By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent
President Akufo-Addo marked the Founders’ Day celebration today with some senior citizens.
This was when he hosted them to a lunch at the Jubilee House.
In his address, he said the current generation of Ghanaians has the potential and capacity to build a modern, developed, and progressive nation.
He therefore charged them to put hands on deck to help develop a better and prosperous Ghana.
That, he said was because Ghana owes the continent and the entire black race the duty to build and grow into a successful, prosperous and happy country.
“The consensus nonetheless is holding for all of us to work towards the prosperous peaceful and happy Ghana we want. We all recognise that the responsibility we carry as the first sub-Saharan colonial country to gain independence is not simply to build an independent country” he said.
Instead, the President said “we owe it to the rest of the continent and the black race to demonstrate that indeed we can build and run a successful, prosperous and happy country. This is a task we do not shirk and which all Ghanaians accept.”
“I want us on this occasion when we are celebrating the Founders’ of our nation to believe in our capacity to build a modern, developed, progressive nation” Akufo-Addo added.
He was confident that the country “can overcome [its] current difficulties and challenges, build a new Ghanaian civilization where there is fair opportunity for all, where there is unlimited access to educational system that embraces science and technology, particularly, the digital revolution, where healthcare is a function of need not news, where hard work, enterprise and creativity is rewarded as the basis for individual wealth, where there is an abundant of decent, and good paying jobs especially for our youth, where there is a dignified retirement for the elderly, where there is a social safety net for the vulnerable and disadvantaged, where we have a governance system based on the separation of power which is free from corruption and is respectful of the rule of law, individual liberties, human rights and the principles democratic accountability.”
Founders’ Day
Founders’ Day (4th August) holds historical importance in Ghana as it marks the contributions of successive generations of Ghanaians who played pivotal roles in liberating the country from colonial rule.
The decision to designate this day as a public holiday was part of a broader initiative by President Akufo-Addo, who proposed amendments to the Public Holiday Act in 2018.
The Public Holidays Amendment Bill, 2018, which was presented by Minister of the Interior, Ambrose Dery, led to the cancellation of three existing public holidays and introduced two new holidays.
As a result, Founders’ Day was set for August 4, while September 21 was designated as a memorial day for Ghana’s first President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, in recognition of his significant role in the fight for Ghana’s independence on March 6.
The three holidays affected by this amendment were the Republic Holiday, previously observed on July 1, the African Union (AU) Holiday, observed on May 25, and the original Founders’ Day, which fell on Kwame Nkrumah’s birthday, September 21.
According to the bill’s explanation, August 4 was chosen to replace Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Day because it holds historical significance as the day when Ghana’s independence movement began in 1947.
On this date, Ghanaian patriots such as George Alfred Grant, J.B. Danquah, R.A. Awoonor-Williams, Edward Akufo-Addo, Ebenezer Ako Adjei, and various chiefs formed the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC).
The UGCC was founded on the principles of the Fante Confederacy of 1868 and the Aboriginal Rights Protection Society of 1897, with a shared mission of achieving Ghana’s independence.
While Founders’ Day has been established as an official public holiday, two opposition political parties, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the Convention People’s Party (CPP), have indicated that they might consider scrapping the holiday if they come into power.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent