If you were given a million dollars to invest in any country of your choice where would you invest it? And what will inform your decision on which nation to choose? As an astute investor expecting to yield maximum returns with minimal uncertainties which of the following African nations would appeal to your business sensibilities- Ghana, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Liberia, Kenya and Rwanda?

It would interest you to note that among these countries are those just a blink away from war, some likely to enter into civil war whilst others are apparently at peace and others also just recovering from war. Civil war in these times has never brought development of any kind but poverty and disease. This is because as scriptures cannot be disputed we need absolute peace if we as Africans will ever develop.

“And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I forgot prosperity”. {Lamentations 3:17}

Whenever a nation lacks prosperity it is simply because she has been deprived of peace. The bible makes us understand that we will forget what prosperity looks like if we lack peace. It is indeed arguable that as individuals we have a basic need for safety at the expense of any other possession. Who wants to invest in a war-torn country or a nation plagued with civil war? This is why as Africans we must do everything to protect the peace of our continent.

In Ghana the word peace in our local language is ‘asomdwe’ for the Twi speaking, ‘twemudwole’ for the Ga’s and ‘tomefafa’ in Ewe which all means PEACE OF MIND. This therefore means we need a sound mind if we will ever come up with ideas and the mental capability to plan and project towards development.

When a nation is deprived of peace her people will never be able to develop and no one will be interested in contributing towards their development. Who will be comfortable to invest in Zimbabwe when the nation is virtually ‘sitting on thorns’ or will be happy to invest in Kenya, Rwanda, Congo and the list goes on and on.

In the African political setting, it is often as though all is well until there is an election and one regime has to hand over power to another. I thank God Ghana handed over power peacefully from one party to the other and peace prevailed afterwards. But what is happening now? How can the Northern part of Ghana develop when peace is lacking? Whenever we hear something good about to happen in terms of poverty alleviation some people just end up stirring up themselves further into poverty.

What happened at the Chief Imam’s place was most unfortunate. It was reported that sympathizers of two rival political parties insulted each other and individuals ended up at the hospital. In Kenya, Odinga and Kibaki are still alive but thousands of people are dead. It is obvious that all people want is power and not development because if someone even becomes president or prime minister and there is chaos and poverty in the land then where stands his desire to alleviate poverty.

No politician should deceive us with the promise of economic and social progress when he or she does not champion the peace of the nation. It is unfortunate but anyone who stirs strife and anarchy is not worth following and dying for because they would actually deprive you of prosperity. Though they propose better wages, jobs and good social infrastructure, war will destroy all these. It is a fact that today’s rebel is tomorrow’s tyrant.

As Christians we need to pray for the peace of our nation if we want to prosper.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces. For my brethren and companions' sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee. {Psalm 122:6-8}

When we pray for peace within the walls of our nation we will see governments prosper. Any one who does not find peace within himself will definitely not prosper. Democracy is very very expensive and we should do everything to protect it. I was so happy that one party handed over to another peacefully after the year 2000 elections and soon afterwards we saw donors from all over the world supporting the country. The question now is, will another government be able to handover power peacefully if need be? We need to seek peace and after finding it we are expected to pursue it.

Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it. {Psalm 34:14}

Do our politicians want to divide us or make us one big family irrespective of tribal, religious, colour or racial disparities? If you divide us who will you govern and how will we prosper? We need each other if we have to progress since we are all unique with our different ideologies. Let us vote for peace and keep the peace of our motherland by;

What we say Who we align with Who we fight Embracing the rule of law Disagreeing with all who hate the peace of the land Being a peace maker so as to be a child of God {Matthew 5:9}

Currently we are enjoying ‘some peace’ in Ghana, I mean ‘some peace’ because the increased spate of armed robbery does not give peace of mind at all but will we still be enjoying this peace after December 7th 2008? Hmmm you have a role to play in this and I have mine.

PEACE BE UNTO YOUR WALLS AND PROSPERITY WITHIN YOUR PALACES.

By Rev. Francis Duane Yalley, a dailyEXPRESS Newspaper Columnist.