Mr William Kwesi Aboah, Minister of the Interior has disclosed that Cabinet and Parliament have given approval for the purchase of equipment for the Ghana Police Service under a 50 million Euro facility.

He said the facility which was secured from BNP Paribas, was a French Credit facility to purchase 1,110 pick-ups and saloon cars, 100 heavy motorbikes, 1,000 walkie-talkies, two cabin patrol cutters, ballistic vests, protection helmets, bullet proof vests and ballistic plates, and four speed interceptor boats for the newly established Maritime Unit.

Mr Aboah was addressing Senior Police Officers, Members of the Headquarters Management Advisory Board (HEMAB), Regional Commanders and District Commanders during his first official working visit to the Ghana Police Service Headquarters in Accra.

He said under the facility, 500 Police Officers would undergo a 16-week intensive training on a wide range of courses in Maritime Law Enforcement, with the objective to maintain fully trained Police personal to be located at various positions along Ghana’s coastline to assist in protecting the shore and oil industry.

Mr Aboah said, enforcement of the law was the statutory responsibility of the Police to ensure protection of life and property and maintenance of peace and public order, with a requirement to respect the fundamental human rights in the exercise of these powers.

He said the task imposed upon the police service had been given a trying dimension in the ongoing Biometric Voters Registration exercise, which had brought in its trail peculiar operational demands which were hectic and challenging.

Mr Aboah said government was aware that the Police Service required human and logistic resources to the hilt, in order to contain recent incidents which were threatening peace and public order.

He said a National Task Force would soon be formed, out of which would flow the Regional, Divisional and District Task Forces,“Among their functions are to coordinate activities of all the security agencies that will be involved in election duties. Representatives of all political parties and the Electoral Commission would be invited for deliberations to iron out issues that are likely to disrupt the peaceful elections that Ghanaians are expecting to achieve.”

Mr Aboah reminded officers of the police service that, their professional ethics was to be fair and firm in enforcing law without discrimination whatsoever on grounds of sex, religion, class, ethnic affiliation or political inclination.

He said a draft of Police Service Regulations was before Cabinet and would be passed on to Parliament immediately the House resumed sitting, adding “This would consolidate all the Police Legislative Instruments to stand the test of time".

Mr Aboah revealed that problems hindering the Police Hospital Development Project had been resolved and negotiations had reached an advanced stage for the contractors International Hospital Group (IHG), to resume work soon at the site.**