Ghana
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ghana, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, deposited Ghana’s instrument of ratification for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) with the UN Secretary-General on 26 September 2025, the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons. He described it as ‘a historic day for Ghana’.1
TPNW Status
| Key weapons of mass destruction treaties | ||
|---|---|---|
| NUCLEAR WEAPONS | ||
| Party to the TPNW | Yes (Ratified 2025) | |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Ratified 1970) | |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 2011) | |
| Party to an NWFZ | Yes (Ratified 2011, Pelindaba) | |
| CSA with the IAEA | Yes (In force 1975) | |
| AP with the IAEA | Yes (In force 2004) | |
| BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL WEAPONS | ||
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Ratified 1975) | |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Ratified 1997) | |
| TPNW Art. 1(1) prohibitions: Compliance in 2025 | ||
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Develop, produce, manufacture, acquire | Compliant |
| Possess or stockpile | Compliant | |
| Test | Compliant | |
| (b) | Transfer | Compliant |
| (c) | Receive transfer or control | Compliant |
| (d) | Use | Compliant |
| Threaten to use | Compliant | |
| (e) | Assist, encourage or induce | Compliant |
| (f) | Seek or receive assistance | Compliant |
| (g) | Allow stationing, installation, deployment | Compliant |
| TPNW voting and participation | |
|---|---|
| UNGA resolution on TPNW (latest vote) | Voted yes (2025) |
| Participated in 3MSP (2025) | Yes (observer) |
| Participated in 2MSP (2023) | No |
| Participated in 1MSP (2022) | Yes (observer) |
| Average MSP delegation size (% women) | 4.5 (25%) |
| Adoption of TPNW (7 July 2017) | Voted yes |
| Participated in TPNW negotiations (2017) | Yes |
| Negotiation mandate (A/RES/71/258) | Voted yes |
| Fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Nuclear facilities | Yes |
| Fissile material production | No |
| HEU stocks | Cleared |
| Plutonium stocks | No |
| SQP with the IAEA | No (Rescinded 2012) |
Latest developments
Upon depositing Ghana’s instrument of ratification for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) on 26 September 2025, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, said that his country had ‘boldly demonstrated to the world that we shall be a nuclear-weapon-free State’. He noted that the country’s first president, Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah, had championed nuclear disarmament in the 1960s and ‘would be absolutely proud of this moment’.2
On 23 July 2025, the Parliament of Ghana unanimously resolved to ratify the TPNW. ‘The ratification of the [TPNW] by Ghana is both a reaffirmation and consolidation of the country’s historic commitment to global nuclear disarmament and the pursuit of international peace and security,’ said Alfred Okoe Vanderpuije, the Chair of the Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs.3
‘In the current global climate—characterized by heightened geopolitical tensions and a renewed risk of nuclear confrontation—the universalization of the TPNW has become a matter of urgent moral and strategic necessity,’ he added.
Ghana attended the Third Meeting of States Parties (3MSP) to the TPNW in March 2025 as an observer. ‘For too long, the world has been held hostage by the existence of these weapons of mass destruction,’ it said. ‘The TPNW offers a tangible pathway forward, and Ghana remains committed to its principles.’4
At the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) Preparatory Committee meeting in April 2025, Ghana said that the TPNW’s entry into force in 2021 ‘reflects the growing global aspiration for a world free of nuclear arms’. ‘By drawing attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons, the TPNW strengthens international efforts toward their total elimination,’ it emphasized.5
Ghana co-sponsored the 2025 UN General Assembly resolution on the TPNW, which welcomed the Treaty’s entry into force and called upon ‘all States that have not yet done so to sign, ratify, accept, approve, or accede to the Treaty at the earliest possible date’.6
Recommendations
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Ghana should continue to encourage other states to adhere to the TPNW.
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Ghana should ensure that all the TPNW obligations are implemented domestically, through legal, administrative, and other necessary measures.