The Vice President, Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has called on Ghanaians to eschew divisions and strive to build a united nation for peaceful coexistence and sustainable development.

He said there was a greater reason to be united than divided and it was imperative for all Ghanaians irrespective of their beliefs to try to forge the already prevalent peace and unity in the country for economic growth.

The Vice President made the appeal on Sunday, at Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region when he joined the congregation of the Sacred Heart Cathedral Parish.

The Vice President who was there to thank God for the continuous blessings on the nation and protection against the devastating effects of the coronavirus pandemic, donated GH¢50,000.00 to the leadership of the church to assist in the completion of the new Cathedral building project.

Dr Bawumia said the recent ranking, which puts Ghana as the second most peaceful nation in Africa and number 38 in the world was a push for all persons to work towards sustaining such achievement for sustainable development and improvement of livelihoods.

“We are at peace because we have a lot of unity in government, unity among different tribes, religious beliefs, north and south and we are trying to forge this peace and we should all know that we cannot stop trying to keep us united.

“The forces of evil will continuously try to divide us, but the forces of good intentions will continue to keep us together because what unites us as a people, as a country is much greater than what divides”.

Dr Bawumia said the enemy of humanity was not religion, tribe or beliefs, but the poverty and the economic hardships that engulfed the nation and urged Ghanaians to avoid disputes and work together to improve the nation.

He said, “I am a Muslim and I am here in the Catholic Church and I feel very comfortable, we are all united, we all worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and we believe in Jesus Christ as the Messiah who was born of the Virgin Mary who is very Sacred to us and there is a whole chapter in the Qu’uran named after the Virgin Mary.

“So, our enemy is not each other because we are much closer than we think, our enemy is Satan, poverty, illiteracy, people who try to use religion to divide us, we want to stay united because what we share is a common love in Jesus Christ.”

The Vice President therefore asked Ghanaians to love one another and extend a helping hand to the sick and needy in society to enable them live dignified lives as one of the greatest commandments of God.

Reverend Father Joseph Tabase, the Officiating Priest who prayed for the Vice President and the government, thanked him for his visit and gift.