Mr Kakra Essamuah — NDC,Hajia Hamdatu Ibrahim — CPP and Nii Allotey Brew Hammond — PPP

3 Political parties share views on July 1

Victor Kwawukume Politics Jul - 02 - 2019 , 08:40

Three opposition political parties, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the Convention People’s Party (CPP) and the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), have decried the decision of the government to cancel the observation of July 1 as a public holiday on the national calendar.

The NDC, in a statement issued by its Director of Communications, Mr Kakra Essamuah, said “the NDC would want to assure all Ghanaians living everywhere that upon its assumption of office in January 2021, Republic Day will be accorded full recognition as one of the most important national days in our history”.

Heroic efforts

According to the NDC, when, through the instrumentality of the country’s first President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s republican feat was achieved on July 1, 1960, it cemented the heroic efforts of the people of Ghana to attain full nationhood, and from which Ghana emphasised her predominant role in the struggle to liberate the black race from the shackles of oppression and suppression.

“Sadly today, the government has deemed it fit to degrade the importance of this great day from a full public holiday intended to celebrate the efforts of our forebears in our collective struggle to affirm the benefits of equality, liberty, freedom and justice, to a mere commemorative day in order to rob our gallant forbears of the historical credit and recognition that they so richly deserve,” the statement said.

The NDC said it had criticised attempts to rewrite the history of Ghana by downplaying the role of genuine patriots, stressing that the struggle against historical revisionists would live long.

The acting Chairperson of the CPP, Hajia Hamdatu Ibrahim, said: “It is a sad situation that we are not celebrating today (July 1) as a public holiday but we are waiting for January 7 to see the import of making that change.”

CPP not happy

According to Hajia Hamdatu, the CPP was not happy about the development, especially in spite of the fact that the party had made its position known through its views submitted to Parliament.

She recounted that following the submission of its position, the party, through its representatives, met with the Parliamentary Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs to reiterate its stance, but all that was to no avail.

For her, it was a case of the Minority having its say and the Majority having its way.

Hajia Hamdatu was of the view that the time had come for all Nkrumaist parties to unite and marshal their forces as Nkrumaists.

“If we had a representative in Parliament, we would have been heard. There is not much we can say but to unite and put forward a strong force to protect the legacy of the history of Ghana,” she urged.

She, therefore, called on all Nkrumaists to bury their differences and help build the country, adding that it was for that reason that the party had decided to, as part of its 70th anniversary, declare a three-day fasting and prayer from July 1-3, 2019, and urged all Ghanaians to join in order to pray that the corporate interest of the country was safeguarded from certain parochial interests.

For his part, the Chairman of the PPP, Nii Allotey Brew Hammond, said July 1 ought to be acknowledged as the day Ghana became totally free and independent.

He was of the view that it was a bad call not to celebrate Republic Day as a public holiday in commemoration of the day “when we truly became independent from our colonial masters”.

Explaining further, he said Ghana still had a Head of State who was the colonial master from March 6 until July 1 when it gained the status to really assert itself and take control of its own destiny.

Republic Day

The Republic Day of July 1 is no longer a public holiday following President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo's assent to the Public Holidays (Amendment) Act 2019.

A statement signed and issued by the Minister of the Interior, Mr Ambrose Dery, on Wednesday, May 8, 2019 announced that President Akufo-Addo assented to the new act on April 16, 2019.

"The President of the Republic of Ghana, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, assented to the Public Holidays (Amendment) Act 2019, (Act 986) on 16th April, 2019," it said.

It added: "The Public Holidays (Amendment) Act 2019, (Act 986) states statutory public holidays and commemorative days.”
Consequently, African Union Day which falls on May 25 and Republic Day which falls on July 1 were made commemorative days to be observed but not as holidays.