One hundred and nine police officers of various ranks have been promoted.

The promotion ceremony took place at the Seychelles Police Academy last Friday in the presence of Designated Minister Macsuzy Mondon, who also holds the portfolio for Home Affairs under which the police falls.

During the ceremony 42 constables were promoted to the rank of corporal; 32 corporals were promoted to sergeants while 17 sergeants received the rank of sub-inspectors.

Ten sub-inspectors were promoted to inspectors; 5 inspectors to assistant superintendents and 2 assistant superintendents to superintendents.

The highlight was the promotion of one superintendent, Francois Freminot, to chief superintendent.

He will now take over the overall commander role of the CID, replacing one of the foreign officers, Christaan Marx, whose contract has just ended. Mr Marx has been mentoring Mr Freminot for about 2 and a half years now.

In his speech at the ceremony, the Commissioner of Police (ComPol) Reginald Elizabeth noted that the Police Force has a selection panel in place to consider promotion which is based on recommendation from respective Commanders and also on availability of budget.

Fighting illegal immigration, drug trafficking, tax evasion and criminality in general are indeed some of the most pressing challenges that governments all over the world face, and Seychelles is no exception.

To equip themselves with the knowledge and skills to combat such illicit practices, 20 young Seychellois from various departments such as Customs, the National Drugs Enforcement Agency (NDEA), the Seychelles Revenue Commission (SRC), the Police Force among others will undertake a training course that will be held in the Italian Guadia di Finanza in the city of Orvieto from September 4-22, 2017.

The training is fully funded by the Italian government in support of the sub-Saharan African countries.