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Addressing the opening section of the second crime officers workshop in Accra, Minister of the Interior, Ambrose Dery maintained, the action is necessary in order to identify the culprits, if any, for appropriate sanctions.

Some Ghanaian police officers on peacekeeping mission in South Sudan were accused by the United Nations on February 24, of having been involved in sexual abuse at one of its protection camps in South Sudan.

The 46-member unit were recalled from the civilian protection site at Wau, and later repatriated to Ghana after an investigation.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Ambrose Dery has assured that the officers who engage in the alleged unprofessional conduct will be investigated and punished accordingly.

“Let me say that we are taking steps to investigate all allegations against our personnel who went out there to work, and we would ensure that should anyone be found guilty, the law will take its course and image of the police service will still be maintained. There shall be no compromises on that.”

Ambrose Dery also hinted of an on-going process of amending police regulations to include sanctions for sexual misconduct.

“I also wish to inform you that there are proposals on the way to amend the police regulations to provide specifically for sexual abuse offences,” he added.

On retooling the police, the minister announced that over a hundred vehicles have arrived at the Tema Port awaiting clearance.

“As part of efforts to retool and equip the police, the president announced an extra budgetary allocation of GHȻ 800 million to the Ghana Police Service. The government has further provided over 200 pickups, motorbikes, among others as logistics to the service.”

“As we speak now, the service is to receive over 100 vehicles which are at the port awaiting clearance,” Ambrose Dery stated at the Crime Officers Workshop in Accra.

The workshop is the second in the series aimed at equipping personnel of the Criminal Investigations Department with requisite skills to overcome challenging trends.

The two-day event is on the theme, “moving to become a world class police organization, the role of the crime officers”.