The 60th anniversary logo. INSET: President Nana Akufo-Addo singing the National Anthem
Government intends to raise an amount of GH¢20 million for the country’s 60th anniversary celebration on March 6, 2017.
At a programme to unveil the logo and the theme, “Mobilizing for Ghana’s future,” for the celebration at the Flagstaff House yesterday, President Akufo-Addo noted, “This diamond jubilee commemoration is estimated to cost us some GH¢20 million.”
Source
That amount is not expected to be taken from government coffers; instead, government intends to generate it from private individuals and institutions.
President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo appealed to Ghanaians, especially those in the private sector and corporate Ghana to provide the funds for this anniversary.
“…I’m appealing to all Ghanaians to chip in to make a success of this important undertaking,” he said.
His reason was encapsulated in his comment, “My ambition is to commemorate this anniversary with the minimum or no burden at all on the national treasure.”
Vice President Bawumia, a staunch critic of wastage in government, who was at the event, could not but nod in endorsement of the decision.
Justification
He justified the decision for Ghana’s 60th independence anniversary celebration, insisting, “There are Ghanaians, many of them unsung who have distinguished themselves quietly, meaningfully and modestly.”
Apart from that, he indicated, “Some have blazed the trail of this country and across the world. Yes, we must tell the Ghanaian story, first to ourselves. We are an industrious and determined people and together we can and must build our beloved nation.
“I know that the torch of independence was lit well and still burns in many hearts across the country; it is the dream of the founders of our nation that Ghana, free, progressive and prosperous Ghana, will be the beacon of Africa and the light of the world,” the president noted with nostalgia, insisting, “That dream still lives on.”
That dream, he said, was nurtured by great patriots like John Mensah Sarbah, Joseph Casely Hayford, George Paa Grant, Joseph Boakye Danquah, Kwame Nkrumah and others, through the ages; with a sense of optimism, “our generation will continue to be inspired by that dream.”
He has therefore hinted that on March 6 that “we will celebrate with the traditional march past and we’ll enable each region to begin to tell its own story in its own voice.”
Programme
In the course of the year, he also revealed that the ‘Ghana: 60 years on’ torch would move from region to region, encouraging citizens to participate where they live and work to as it were, “supporting domestic tourism and an opportunity daily to reflect, celebrate, renew and challenge ourselves to define the spirit ‘I am a Ghanaian.’”
He therefore appealed to Ghanaians, “Let’s continue to mobilise for Ghana’s future and give a meaning to the statement, I am a Ghanaian.”
Present were government officials and captains of the industry, including corporate organizations and members of the Ghana@60 planning committee, which is chaired by Ken Amankwah.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Jubilee House