This is a non-partisan piece and the writer does not have any political party in mind and so please do not read this with a political eye and miss the message and do exactly what I am trying to bring to light.

Lk: 11:17: Jesus said: ?A kingdom where people fight each other will end up in ruin. And a family that fights will break up.? (CEV)

?For the betterment of the people, I will do my part to bring success to this project regardless of who gets the credit.? When was the last time you heard a statement like this at a meeting, parliament or a family gathering?

It is so sad that in our homeland most people who are not in charge or when they do not handle the purse string feel that they have to oppose everything and give those in charge a hard time. The adage is that if I am in an opposition party then those of the ruling party are enemies and so I should fight everything they propose. If I am not in charge of the project then I ?suspect? whoever is in charge and I am not going to contribute positively towards the success of the program or the project.

In the home, send money to a sister for a project and your brother or cousin and even parents feel that they should do all that they can to give the one handling the purse a hard time or spread falsehood to put the person in-charge in a bad light.

First, we do not trust anyone in most cases because we do not trust ourselves. We are always suspicious of people in charge or we feel that we can handle things ?better.?

We fight each other on all levels and so a lot of energy is wasted instead of working together towards a common goal. The ?team approach? is an alien phenomenon to our system in these times of economic hardships. It has to be me in charge or nobody wins. Opposition parties exist to give other view and keep the party in power on its toes but not to do things to hurt the well being of the citizens who voted for them.

A house divided against itself cannot stand. Do we have the best interest of the nation at heart? Do we care? Are we all children of Mother Ghana? Then why do we fight each other every step of the way?

Yes, there are many ways to reach a goal but are we seeking the supreme welfare of the people or are we fighting for our own selfish gains? We do fight each other even over who will get the credit rather than work towards a common goal for the good of the people regardless who will get the credit.

Sometime ago, a friend sent a shipping container load of computers to a High School in Ghana and because the Member of Parliament who was to take delivery of the computers was a member of the Opposition Party, it took months before the computers got to the School and at the end, the Party in power took credit for getting the computers to the School. The fight over who will get the credit or who will ?handle? the load delayed the delivery of the computers for months and in the mean time the students were the ones who had to do without.

A story is told of a group of six men who were trapped by happenstance in dark and bitter cold. Each man had a walking cane as they sat around a dying fire. For various reasons, no one was willing to contribute his cane to keep the fire burning.

When one man suggested that they put their canes in the fire, the Lawyer in the group proposed that they discuss who will put his cane in the fire first. Then the Parliamentarian in group stated that the Lawyer was out of order. As they discussed the order of who will put his cane in the fire first and even whose idea it was that they use their walking canes to keep the fire burning to keep them warm, the fire died out.

With their walking canes in hand, the group froze to death. ?A kingdom where people fight each other will end in ruin. And a family that fights will break up.?

Next time we feel like standing in opposition to progress, let us ask, ?Is my action for the good of all or this is for my selfish gain?? It is not rubber stamping everything, but let us choose our fights carefully. We must all go through a mental revolution, forsake all selfishness, and dedicate ourselves to the betterment of the nation.

We must build for tomorrow and not ?me first? for today. Will future generations come and praise us for what we build today? It is only through selfless devotion, unity and commitment to the betterment of our people will Ghanaians be able to end our long decline and retake our rightful place among the progressive community of nations.

Never again do we want our nation to be labeled a ?Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC). We are very rich and we know it.

Stand up against corruption and encourage those in charge to do the same. Seek the supreme good of all in a united effort. Contribute positively and selflessly for the good of all regardless of who gets the credit or who is in control of the purse string, unless this person is a Judas. Good will triumph over evil and the day of Judas will come.

Let us learn to trust each other and let us live above reproach so that those in opposition will find it easier to join the winning team because we have a common mother- Ghana. Let us put Mother first and when we work selflessly for the common good, we all win. ?When two elephants fight they both get black eyes and the environment suffers.? May the next generation grow up to call us blessed for what we build together for the common good of all. ?United we stand, divided we fall.?

Views expressed by the author(s) do not necessarily reflect those of GhanaHomePage.