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Ghana police cooperating with UN over sex abuse allegations
It follows an official notification of the police administration by the secretariat of the United Nations through Ghana's permanent mission in New York.
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"The police administration immediately sent a response through the Ghana Permanent Mission to the UN indicating its fullest cooperation and support to investigate the alleged sexual exploitation and abuse case," the police said in a statement.
"In the response, the Police Administration reiterated its commitment towards ensuring the highest professional standards by its officers participating in UN Peacekeeping Operations and will not tolerate any acts or actions by Ghanaian Police Officers that contrary to the United Nations Rules and Regulations."
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In addition, the police administration says it has requested the UN to permit a three member team to be immediately deployed into the mission area for a better understanding of the incident.
The UN on Friday recalled Ghana's Formed Police Unit working in one of its protection camps over allegations that some of them were involved in sexual abuse.
The 46-member police unit was drawn from Wau and confined to base after a preliminary investigation into allegations of sexual relations with women living at the camp.
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A statement from UNMISS said the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, David Shearer, and other Mission leaders, were briefed on the preliminary investigation and a decision was made to remove police unit from their duty stations.
"The information received indicates that some members of the FPU allegedly engaged in transactional sex. This is a clear breach of the UN and UNMISS Code of Conduct which prohibits sexual relationships with vulnerable individuals, including all beneficiaries of assistance," the statement said.
It added: "UNMISS has informed UN headquarters in New York of the allegations, which in turn notified the Member State that the matter was being investigated by the United Nations. There is no indication that this behaviour is more widespread within the Mission."
The statement also noted that on the whole, Ghanaian peacekeepers and police serving with UNMISS have made an excellent contribution to the protection of civilians and building of durable peace in South Sudan.
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"It is very disappointing that the behaviour of some police officers risks staining that record of service as well as the Mission’s reputation," it concluded.
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