The second greatest commandment, according to Matthew 22:39, is: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself”. When you love someone as yourself you will not want to hurt them. Often times, we do amazing things to protect our loved ones which others may term unimaginable.
When we are in love we want peace to reign so the love can blossom.
In less than a fortnight, Ghanaians across the country will be voting, and campaigns for peaceful elections are being played daily on our television and radio sets to forestall any incidents of violence.
Growing up in Bayou, a town in the Upper East Region of Ghana, and having witnessed the conflicts which occurred there and its consequences on social and economic life, I am all for a peaceful election.
In times of conflicts, schools, hospitals, markets, shops, businesses and indeed all activities come to a halt, absolutely nothing works.
For instance, while schools in conflict areas are closed down, leaving pupils/students loitering about, their colleagues in peaceful regions continue to enjoy a smooth learning environment but they end up writing the same final exams.
Can you imagine how the results will differ?
Also teachers, healthcare providers, security personnel etc. refuse postings to these areas. Besides, people from such conflict areas are tagged as terrorists, troublemakers, stubborn, etc.
It is even more pathetic when we travel to other places and others are scared to mingle with us because they feel insecure.
Furthermore, several developmental projects are abandoned and never completed.
We have seen what countries such as Libya, Rwanda, Nigeria, just to name a few, went through and are still enduring as a result of conflicts.
As we gear towards the elections, I humbly plead with prophets, preachers, evangelists, imams and all men of God in churches, mosques, on vehicles, television and radio to preach the message in Matthew: “Love your neighbour as yourself” and promote the need for peace during and after the elections.
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