5 Sep 2006

Review of Force structure priority for new Vanuatu Police Commissioner

3:07 pm on 5 September 2006

Vanuatu's new Police Commissioner says it is his mandate to unite the country's Police Force after the internal divisions of recent years.

Lieutenant Colonel Patu Navoko Lui of the paramilitary Vanuatu Mobile Force was officially sworn into the job last week and announced his aims for the Police Force yesterday while appointing his new executive.

Lt Col Patu's appointment ends a selection process which began last year and gives Vanuatu its first permanent commissioner in nearly two years.

He says creating a force that is united in the way it used to be is a key area he will address.

"Like in the past, we have enjoyed that. From after independence until the current sort of internal issues that came up in the Force in 1997 so my aim here is to try all my best with the current Executive that I have just appointed yesterday to look at bringing the whole force back together as in the past."

Lieutenant Colonel Patu Navoko Lui