Mahama suspends rotational celebration of independence
As Ghana gears towards its 68th Independence Day Celebration on March 6,2025, President John Dramani Mahama has suspended the rotational policy of Independence Day Celebration, as part of efforts to save cost.
Felix Kwakye Ofosu, Presidential Spokesman and Minister of State in-charge of Government Communications, who disclosed this at a press conference in Accra, said as part of efforts to cut down cost, the 68th Independence Day Celebration on the theme “Reflect, Review and Reset”, would be moved from the Independence Square to the Presidency in Accra.
He said figures on how much it costs to hold the rotational Independence Day Celebrations showed that depending on where the celebrations were held, there were significant cost implications.
He said for instance, the one of the celebrations that was held in Ho, cost the country a staggering GH¢15 million.
Adding that every time that the celebration had been sent to a different regional capital, apart from Accra, Ghanaians had had to bear such costs.
“In the spirit of cutting down on government expenditure, on non-essential expenditure, President Mahama has instructed that this rotational policy be suspended.”
He said on 6th March 1957, Ghana gained its independence from the British colonial rule and since then, every year there have been national celebrations to mark that momentous occasion.
He noted that in the last few years, however, there had been an effort to rotate the celebrations amongst various regional capitals.
“Now, whereas the intentions behind that may be noble, President Mahama has asked that that rotational policy be suspended because of the need to scale down and this has become necessary due to escalating costs,” Mr Ofosu said.
He said it had been discovered after some review that the rotation imposed additional costs and therefore, at a time when the national budget was severely constrained due to economic difficulties, it was not going to be sustainable to keep rotating the national celebrations.
Mr Ofosu said the main celebrations, which would have taken place in Accra at Independence Square had also become the subject of some rollback.
He said President Mahama believed that there was much to celebrate over Ghana’s independence; saying “it is perhaps the most significant happening in our entire history as a country”.
“And he acknowledges the need to celebrate this in a manner that befits our status as an independent country. “Nonetheless, he is also minded by the parallel state of the economy and the various competing needs and the fact that there are critical sectors of our national life that do not receive adequate or anything near to adequate funding.
“He believes that at this moment in time, there is a need to reprioritize government expenditure.”
Mr Ofosu said one of the areas where savings could be made was this independence celebration.
