So soon, the Christmas season is here with us again, and it is difficult to believe that the year 2022 has travelled over 12 months within this short time.

The season is a period of joy because during this time, people are expected to celebrate the Saviour of the World and share gifts with friends and loved ones. It is an occasion during which everyone is expected to share in this joy and make us happy.

This explains why we tend to wish one another the best of luck and happiness. This warm season must be shared by all, irrespective of whether those we share it with happen to be our friends or not.

It is equally important to share the peace and love of the season with all political actors. We may belong to different political parties, but we need to respect one another irrespective of differences in politi­cal views and beliefs.

At the same time, we need to ensure that vicious attacks are avoided as much as possible. This is because clean politics requires that decent language be used whenever we are expressing our views. The situation in which vicious attacks are launched on political opponents in order to destroy them must be avoided.

What is more, the use of social media to mount attacks on our political leaders as well as parlia­mentarians must be avoided. Hiding on social media to attack people we perceive as political enemies is the most unfortunate thing to do at this point in time.

Rather, we should show respect to one another and offer construc­tive criticism so that together we can build our country into a great nation. This is what we need to do at all times.

Christmas is a period of love, which must be extended to all peo­ple in this country and outside, irre­spective of their status in society.

Showing love to one another means sharing our gifts with those around us. It is true that economic conditions have made life unbear­able.

In spite of this, we must show love to everybody and stand firm so that we can have one united front against our common enemy, which is poverty and squalor. We need to come together and make every ef­fort to overcome all the difficulties we are facing in this country and the rest of the world.

We must always remember that “where there is life, there is hope.”

Merry Christmas to all our read­ers!