Its yet another election year and a lot of people are raising so many concerns about how we ought to pray hard and work hard so that peace can continue to reign in this country. I find this quite unfortunate because it is when we make such comments like “if we do not pray, there will be chaos in our country after the election”, “Ghana may become like Liberia and other African countries”, Ghanaians are joking with their peace, if only they know what is ahead of them” and so on. Elections are carried out to help people choose who they want to represent them. It is also an opportunity for political parties to educate electorates on their ideologies, give accounts to the people about their activities as well as ensure PEACEFUL change of government.
If so, why then are we making so much noise about how people should work to ensure peace is maintained in the country. Just as you will deny that you will not be the one to
begin any form of violence or conflict during the election, so would I also deny it and even pledge my full support for peace. Who then are the people to begin the violence? It is just you and I! The very people who are crying for peace, we are the same people who will say “we will not agree”, we will beat you if you joke”, “blood must spill” etc. Why are we causing so much panic and tension when we can actually make everyone relaxed and comfortable.
Who says there must always be chaos after an election? Who says it is normal for people to fight after an election? Who says we cannot continue to live in peace and love one another after our general elections? well, it is true that when your neighbour’s beard is on fire, you put yours in water. That is the reason why we always
give examples of countries that experienced conflict after going to the polls, but then how often have we mentioned countries that have seen peace after their elections? Or have we become so conflict loving that we fail to identify anything that has to do with peace? If you ask me, I think that it is when we begin to nurse an idea so strongly that it can easily be put to action.
The decision lies within us, we decide if we want to have a peaceful election or not. We decide whether we want to continue to be in our country or not. we decide if we want to make Mother Ghana proud or not. As we go around propagating that there may be conflict in the country after the elections, do we think about what is going to happen to us should any such thing happen? What abo
ut our children? What happens after the election depends on what we do today and what we say. Your utterances can make or unmake not just you but the entire community. You and I are those who will suffer if things do not go on well after our elections. The reason is that it is you and I who cannot afford to travel anywhere, we do not have the means and the resources, we do not have the power. That is why we need to protect and cherish what we have now. That is why we should preach what we want and not what we do not want.
Before CPP, PPP, NDP, NPC, NPP and NDC were, GHANA was and will still be. Ghana is not all about CPP or PPP or NDP or NPP or NDC or any of the other political parties. Ghana is about all of us coming together to live in harmony. CPP was dominant in Ghana during the days of Nkrumah, today, the CPP is struggling to gain
grounds but Ghana is still Ghana, that is how all other political parties may soon die off but Ghana will still be what it is. This country has seen the rise and fall of many political parties, but Ghana is still Ghana. Someone said that “when a gun is fired, the bullet does not know whether this person belongs to this political party or that political party, whoever it hits gets the impact of the bullet. Nobody’s name is written on a bullet so that when that bullet is released, it goes in search of the person to attack. It attacks whoever is in its way”.
I know my people from the north love their tz and green green prepared with mushroom and they love their pito so much that they will not want anything at all to destroy the peace that they are enjoying. I also know that the Akans love their fufu with “ebunabuna” with snail and crab pushed down with a calabash of palm wine that
they will want to continue enjoying it. As for my Fante and Ga people, kenkey with pepper and fried fish is a delicay they cannot afford to miss for anything. The Ewes love their akple with okro so much that they will live peacefully to enjoy it. Ghana must be, so that we all can enjoy our delicacies.
I believe that Ghana will survive and we will make it if we want to. We have only one nation, Ghana, which is made up of one people who are peace loving. Election will not divide us, we love one another and we love our country. We care about the future of our children and our children’s children so we will not do anything to destroy the beautiful future that we dream for them. We know that we cannot be free and feel at
home in any other country apart from Ghana. We will resolve all issues peacefully, we pledge to avoid all forms of violence. We will not fight, we will say sorry when we are at fault and we will forgive on another. This is who we are and this is what we want to do. As we count down to the election DAY, let us keep in mind that peace is not expensive and we are those who can promote it best. I know we will meet after the election to celebrate PEACE! CHEERS!!!
