The flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has promised to reinstate July 1 as a national holiday in Ghana if elected on December 7.
“July 1 is our Republic Day and we also made it our senior citizens day. They have come to take the holiday from July 1 to August 4, the day the UGCC was founded,” he pointed out.
The Republic Day of July 1 is no longer a public holiday.
The holiday was scrapped following President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s consent to the Public Holidays (Amendment) Act 2019.
A statement signed and issued by the former Minister of the Interior, Mr. Ambrose Dery, on Wednesday, May 8, 2019, announced that President Akufo-Addo had assented to the new Act on April 16, 2019.
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During his tour of the Upper East Region, Mr Mahama criticized President Akufo-Addo’s decision to shift the holiday from July 1 to August 4.
According to him, the current administration is trying to “rewrite history” by substituting Republic Day with Founders’ Day.
“Apart from destroying the economy, one of the things this government wants to do is to rewrite our history, and we shall not allow them to rewrite our history because the president said he does not accept that one person can be the founder of our nation.
“Nobody can come and rewrite our history. Indeed, for those of you who don’t know it, when the Queen finally agreed to give Ghana independence, the UGCC that Nana Akufo-Addo is fighting to be recognised as founders of Ghana wrote a petition. They sent people to England to tell the queen not to grant independence because we are not ready yet.”
This comment comes after President Akufo-Addo on August 3 reignited a debate by stating in a national broadcast that he rejects the notion that a single individual founded Ghana.
According to the president, it was important to acknowledge the contributions of others who fought for Ghana’s freedom besides Dr Kwame Nkrumah.
He further defended his government’s decision to designate August 4 as Founders’ Day to celebrate the collective efforts of those who contributed to the nation’s fight for independence while establishing September 21 as Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Day.
However, Mr Mahama assured that under a future NDC government, July 1 will be reinstated as a holiday to honour Ghana’s republic.