What People Will Do For The Love Of Their Country

As incredible as it may sound, a woman’s supposed love for her country is pushing her to divorce her husband so she can go into politics. That is something I picked up from the foreign media two weeks ago.

Also this time of the year, Christians are preparing for Easter. All the talk is centred on Jesus Christ, their role model’s love for the world for which he was prepared to die a painful and humiliating death on the cross in order to bring salvation to mankind.

For his love and passion to “free” America from a colour blind society, Martin Luther King, Jr, an African American civil rights activist fought against racial segregation and racist discrimination through civil disobedience and other non-violent means to bring “freedom” to the African Americans.

His passion earned him a Nobel Peace Prize at a young age of 35. Unfortunately, he met his death through assassination at age 39 in 1968 and was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977. Martin Luther King Jr. Day was established as a US federal holiday in 1986.

On the African continent, Nelson Mandela stands very tall when it comes to the list of leaders who, for their devotion to the liberation of their country and people went through pain and torture at the hands of their oppressors. After nearly 3 decades in prison, Mr Mandela came out even more emboldened to lead his countrymen and women, to dismantle apartheid and lead a black majority rule in South Africa.

In Ghana, our own Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah led the other Big Five through thick and thin until they won for us our independence from British colonial rule. In the history of the Ashanti Kingdom, we cannot forget the bravery of the Queen mother of Ejisu, Nana Yaa Asantewaa. She is said to have led the Ashantis to war against the British colonialists to force them to bring back from exile, the then King of Ashanti, Prempeh 1.

In her historic speech at a meeting of Ashanti chiefs, she is reported to have referred to them as cowards fearing to go forward and declared, “We the women will. I shall call upon my fellow women. We will fight the white men. We will fight till the last of us fall in the battlefield. She indeed led her people to war and was captured alongside other Ashanti leaders and was sent into exile.

So, what are the extraordinary lengths that people will go for the sake of their country and people to the extent that sometimes they have to make costly sacrifices putting their own lives at risk in the process?

A British national who, after overcoming his claustrophobia, pulled out 6 survivors from the rubbles of the recent devastating earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand, was hailed a hero for his bravery that saved the lives of six people. When interviewed, he said that for a moment, his natural fear for space was overcome and what he did, he said, “was the best feeling in the world”.

As recent as a fortnight ago, on BBC, I listened to the First Lady of Guatemala confirming rumours that were circulating about her divorce from her husband, President Alvaro Colom. The divorce was so that she could stand for general elections in Guatemala to succeed him. The First Lady, Sandra Torress de Colom fought back tears as she told her country that she was leaving a succeessful marriage for the sake of the nation.

At a news conference, she said: “I am getting married to the people.” “I am not going to be the first woman who decides to get a divorce but I am the only woman to get a divorce for her country”. The Guatemalan First Lady was going that route, at the expense of her marriage because the country’s constitution bans close relatives of the President from standing to succeed him.

I guess it is for the sake of his “love” for his country that President Laurent Gbagbo of La Cote d’Ivoire would not give up his presidential seat to his rival Alassane Quattara. For the same love to serve his people, Alassane Quattara would also not give up. Now the same country they both claim to love and were last November asking the people to give them the opportunity to serve is now in turmoil and the people are fleeing while the unfortunate ones have lost their lives.

And so, what is your exceptional love for your country or its people? For what reasons would you be prepared to take Ghana to the altar and declare for better or for worse because of your love for country and men? I bet our politicians will be the first to declare their intentions. They have always done so. Saying so is the easiest part. Putting it into practice then becomes difficult.

Soon, the politicians would be coming back with all kinds of sweet words to declare their love for the people and country. Their intentions would simply be to woo us, the electorate, so that we can give them our votes. The promises will come in all shapes and sizes even to the extent of bringing heaven down to Ghana.

Like the woman who is looking for love, we the electorate will get swayed by the politicians’ promises, empty or not and get carried away. Before long, they would have received what they want forgetting that they ever made promises to their electorate.

Maybe we need to develop a 5-Way wheel test for all our politicians who will come to us in 2012. Will they give us chop money if we should lose our jobs? For the women, if their husbands elope with another woman, do they promise to look after them? Will they be fair and be a father to all the people? Will they jump in and rescue us if we were to drown? Will they lead us into battle and not abandon the ship if the enemy was to attack Ghana today?

As for the Guatemalan First Lady, I pray that her people would give her their votes come September since it is because of them that she is divorcing her husband of eight years having been divorced from a previous marriage.

Poor President Colom, this would be his third divorce too. And do you know what Mrs Colom’s critics are saying? They are saying that she wields even more power over her husband, behind the scenes. Well, what has that got to do with her declared love for her country? Oh, politics. The bickering is everywhere.

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