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The Defense Minister, Mr Mark Owen Woyongo has observed that in spite of the numerous challenges confronting the Military, morale in the barracks was still high. The Minister, who made the observation during a working visit to the Military Detachment at Bazua, near Bawku, in the Upper East Region, commended the Officers for the high moral, despite the fact that most of the army personnel had left their families and were on peace keeping missions locally and abroad. The Minister presented two assault Military patrol vans to the Bazua Military Detachment and appealed to the soldiers to continue working with zeal whilst Government addresses their challenges. He said plans were underway to get Parliament to approve funds to purchase military accoutrement for officers who would be sent on United Nations operations. Mr Woyongo said the Ministry was also working feverishly to secure resources to improve their accommodation, including the provision of water facilities and other urgent needs. He impressed upon the military in the Northern Command to beef up security to curb the proliferation of illegal weapons and also to be vigilant to counter any security threats. The Minister expressed misgivings about the bad relationship between the Military and the Media and urged them to strive towards a cordial relationship. �Being in uniforms does not mean that you should take the laws into your own hands. You need the Media and the Media also need you�, he cautioned the Military. The Minister further exhorted the Military to step up their efforts at curbing the high incidence of fuel and fertilizer smuggling in Bawku and its environs. Mr Woyongo, who had earlier paid a courtesy call on the Paramount Chief of the Bawku Traditional Area, Naba Abugrago Asigre Azoka II, appealed to the chief to endeavor to sustain the current peace in the area and expressed his happiness that the Mamprusi group had agreed to return to the peace table. �Bawku would have been one of the prosperous Municipalities in the country if there was peace in the area� he said, and appealed to all Chiefs in the Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions to come together and find lasting solutions to the numerous conflicts in the area. According to the Minister, his working visit, which had taken him to the Northern Command, made up of the Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, Northern and Upper East regions, was to enable him to acquaint himself with the challenges confronting the Military and find ways of addressing them.