WHY GHANAIANS CHOOSE PEACE OVER VIOLENCE DURING ELECTIONS

Ghanaians over the years have been touted as peaceful by other nationals and this is no fluke. This has been exhibited in crucial moments such as elections and have always stood to the test and proved critics wrong.

On December 7 this year, Ghanaians would be called to duty again to prove their worth when it comes to issues regarding peace and violence.
 
The following are a few of the things that influence Ghanaians to remain peaceful and united.

1. Past events: Ghanaians have vowed not to experience what took place between 1966 and the 1980s. Those were the “Dark days” where heads of state were overthrown through military coup d’états, killing of innocent civilians, loss of property among others.

2. Religious beliefs: Religions across Ghana believe in peace and anything contrary to this is frowned upon. For instance, Christianity, Islam, Traditional religion and the rest are established on peace, love and oneness without which there is no need for religion.

3. Africa’s future: As a country thought to be the gateway to Africa, Ghanaians would want to keep this pride and would not allow it to go down the drain just because of violence. Africa’s development without Ghana is like a car without fuel.

4. Wanting to die in peace: The people of Ghana are so obsessed with the word “peace” to the extent that they would want their deaths to be described as “peaceful”. Anything aside peaceful is regarded a “bad omen”.

5. Natural resources: A people who find themselves on a continent which is endowed naturally than any other continent is a “blessing” and would not want to let this go.

6. Keeping the African unity dream alive: Despite the hiccups in Africa’s development, Ghanaians are very optimistic that the African unity dream of the founding fathers is alive and did not die with them.

7. Women are irreplaceable : Women are considered irreplaceable by Ghanaians and to see women suffering due to violence is the last thing to think of. For instance, I cannot stand the scene of a woman being manhandled by men as a result of war or violence in any other form.Without women, men in Ghana are “empty”.

8. Not to be referred to as refugees: The mere fact of being proud as Ghanaians is enough to send clear signals that becoming refugees is not found in the dictionaries of Ghanaians.

9. Familiar with peace: This, the most important among the reasons is the fact that, Ghanaians know the essence of choosing peace over violence than anyone else does. Preaching peace to a Ghanaian could be summed up with these three examples.

a. Is like advertising ice cubes to the Eskimos

b. Is like a foreigner selling kangaroos to Australians
and
c. Is like introducing how to play football to Brazilians.

The above and many others will continue to influence Ghanaians when it comes to choosing between peace and violence.

Anyone who does not belong to the idea of peace and would want to cause mayhem before, during and after the December 7 elections is not a true Ghanaian and may be out of his or her senses.

GHANA WILL CONTINUE TO EXPERIENCE PEACE!