In my final year at OKESS, I used to lead Church services by introducing preachers.

Since then, I have had an enduring faith in the power of the word of God to guide our individual lives and that of institutions.

Today, let me respectfully direct your attention to the book of proverbs.

In proverbs 15:22 it reads, "Without counsel, purposes are disappointed;  but in the multitude of counselors they are established " (KJV).

Then in the same text 24:6, it is even more explicit.

It says, "For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war; and in the multitude of counselors, there is safety" (KJV).

Clearly, divine guidance encourages us to be tolerant and to listen to others. Look at our political parties.

Listen and watch Koku Anyidoho address Hannah Tetteh's transgressions and it makes your skin creep.

As for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), these days, it is a good day when disagreements are settled with words and not blows, sticks, cutlasses, guns and/or acid.

This internal attitude is reflected on the national scene.

Bipartisanship is a dirty word in our politics.

The only thing our Members of Parliament (MPs) are good at doing, perhaps, is by voting to get their pay increased.

But bipartisanship is an indispensable part of successful democracies.

America has been at its best in periods of bipartisanship. The victories in the world wars, great legislations on immigration and education and in many areas have come in periods of genuine bipartisanship.

Intolerance, within or between parties, is incompatible with genuine democracy.

Let us, within our parties and between them, have a multitude of councils and listen to them.

God bless you all.