President John Agyekum Kufuor also Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces has warned the Forces not to indulge in politics but rather to make professionalism, its hallmark.

Armed Forces Personnel should uphold the respect Ghanaians have for them, serve the country with pride and retire with honor, he told the GAF High Command who made a courtesy call on him in Accra.

Major-General Seth Kofi Obeng, Acting Chief of Defense Staff who led the delegation, presented to President Kufuor an award given him by the Lebanese President, Emile Lahoud.

The Order of the Cedars, the highest Lebanese National Military Medal, was given him at the end of his 18 months tenure as Commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

President Kufuor decorating Gen. Obeng with the medal charged him to ensure that officers, men and women of the Forces see him as a role model to serve the country with distinction to restore the image of the Forces. It is the entire Armed Forces that have been honored.

The Defense Minister, Dr Kwame Addo Kufuor, said the honor is a reflection of the high esteem the GAF have in peace missions in the world. He said the honor should be regarded as a feather in the cap of the Armed Forces not only for the high esteem they enjoy in their operations in the world but also in Ghana, to remain committed to defend the country at all times.

The Minister for Presidential Affairs, Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, said all members of the GAF should share the pride of the honor.

Gen. Obeng said he deems the award not as a personal honor but recognition of the immeasurable contribution Ghana is making through her Armed Forces towards world peace, especially in Lebanon.

He said the award would spur him on to give of his best in his new appointment, and hoped with government's support, he would lead the GAF on a path of professionalism and excellence to fulfil its role in national security and development.