The 2024 flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Mahama, has promised to reinstate July 1 as a national holiday in Ghana if he wins the upcoming elections.
Ghana became a Republic on July 1, 1960, and the day was celebrated each year until the inception of the Akufo-Addo administration, which made it commemorative.
Instead, the Akufo-Addo government replaced it with August 4, which is a statutory holiday to celebrate the founders of Ghana.
Speaking on day two of his tour in the Upper East Region, Mr Mahama criticised President Akufo-Addo's decision to change the holiday from July 1 to August 4.
According to the flagbearer, the current administration is trying to "rewrite history" by replacing Republic Day with Founders' Day, a move he strongly opposes.
“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 Ghana was founded by a single individual.
Mahama stated that under a future NDC government, July 1 will be restored as a holiday to celebrate Ghana’s republic.
“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 which is the day the UGCC was founded.”
“When we come to office, we will rectify those things. July 1 will be a holiday again,” he said.
Credit: Emmanuella Sarfo-Ntow