Accra, May 10, GNA - President John Agyekum Kufuor on Tuesday applauded the security services for the alertness and professionalism that has helped create a stable environment for the country's giant socio-economic and political strides.

The progress Ghana is making could not have been achieved without the critical role of the security, he said, at the inauguration of a state-of-the-art new Headquarters building for the Research Department of the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Accra.

Work on the five-storey office complex started in June 2003 and was funded by the Government.

The Department, which was established in 1958 by the late President Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, is a component of the national security system and deals primarily with intelligence for the protection, promotion and enhancement of the country's security and sovereignty.

It has however, over the years, been operating in wooden structures.

President Kufuor stated that the primary objective for the building was not to beautify the skies of the nation's capital, Accra, but rather, provide modern, functional and congenial environment to boost the institutional image of the Department. He said what Ghanaians were expecting in return was a high-level performance to justify the support. "Loyalty and commitment, the hallmarks of your Department should never be in doubt", he added.

President Kufuor said security was the first law of the Government and that the Government would continue to depend on the input of the security services as it fulfilled its mandate. Mr Francis Poku, the National Security Minister, said the security agencies remained focused and determined to bring peace to the country to ensure the growth of its democracy.

He said the nation's security policy was now based on the rule of law and respect for human rights, fairness to all and de-politicisation.

Security operation, he said, has thus been made meaningful to the population and credited this to President Kufuor's self-restraint character.

Mr J. K. Mensah, the Director of the Department, said as a national institution, it was non-partisan and pledged to continue to exercise the highest level of professionalism to ensure national peace and security.