John Mahama has pledged to restore July 1 as a national holiday in Ghana.
From July 1, 1960, when Ghana became a republic, the day was commemorated annually until the Akufo-Addo administration took office.
The Akufo-Addo administration decided to replace it with August 4, a legally recognized holiday honoring Ghana’s founders.
On the second day of his journey in the Upper East Region, Mr. Mahama addressed the press and criticized President Akufo-Addo for moving 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 Nana Akufo-Addo, fighting to be recognized as the founder 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 the office, we will rectify those things. July 1 will be a holiday again,” he said.