The former Security Minister under the former president Kufuor led NPP administration, Mr. Francis Poku has said there is no appetite for coup among the military in Ghana today and praised the security forces for the key role they have played and would continue to play in strengthening Ghana’s young but exemplarily and fledging democracy. He said there is absolute loyalty towards constitutional governance by the forces and the military over the last few years have shown their commitment to support civil society and protect the constitution of Ghana. He praised and described the current recruitment policies into the military that ensures regional and ethnic balance as excellent. The military now recruits at the regional levels on the basis of proportional representation according to regional population sizes. Mr Francis Poku who was the guest of honour at the well attended event which was organized over the weekend by Radio Focus, a Ghanaian London based radio station which broadcast across Europe said with his 7years experience working with military as a minister he knows the military are committed to protecting the security and peace Ghanaians enjoy today. He said all the military are asking for now are tools and equipments to carry out their constitutional mandated duties very efficiently and diligently. He also spoke on a wide range of issues of national concern. He praised the electoral commissioner Dr Afari Gyan for taking a bold step not to implement the people representative act declaring the country is not yet ready for it. He praised the consensus building culture in parliament among Ghanaians parliamentarians and called on the government to help ensure that parliamentarians have access to research materials. He advised political parties to take seriously the welfare of their foot soldiers and to be proactive in identifying and differentiating between the foot soldiers who can campaign and those who can help the government in the governing process once the parties have been elected into office. He also said political parties must support and ensure the electoral commissioner conducts a successful election in 2012. He identified the events in the neighbouring countries, the activities of the alien herdsmen and cyber crime as some of the security challenges confronting the Ghana today. He called on the Ghanaian cyber security experts in the diasporas to avail themselves and help Ghana guard herself against criminal gangs who might want to use the internet to affect businesses in Ghana. The Ghana High Commissioner to the UK HE Prof. Kwaku Danso Boafo who was the special guest of honour at the event also called on the media to ensure professionalism and report only the truth. The event was used to raise funds for Kumasi Children’s Home and to formerly announce the creation of Mugabe Foundation, a charity that will be dedicated to helping the most vulnerable in the Ghanaian society. Source: www.iamaghanaian.com