Independence day celebration put on hold.

Credible information reaching the leadership of Citizens Awake Forum (CAF) indicates that the sitting government has put the celebration of the Independence Day on hold due to financial difficulties.

Added to that, CAF has cited a booklet in circulation at the Ghana Education Service from the Ministry of Education directing all the Regional and the District Directors of Education to comply with the directives since the Government has no funds for the occasion.

In furtherance, the booklet however, noted that any Region or District who wish to celebrate the independent day does so at their own expense.

Shockingly, this is the first time since independence that Government has refused to release funds for the Independence Day celebration.

Our intelligence gathered indicates that the government is in difficulty raising funds to fix the energy crisis and that the celebration of the 6th March might further compound the debt obligation of the government.

More so, CAF interacted with some headmasters of some government schools and they were all frustrated and amazed as to why the government has put the 6th March on hold.

In some instances, one headmaster said he is not surprised at this because ever since the NDC came to power, they have failed to honor all the statutory payments especially the Getfund which has been the backbone of education in the country.

Some of the pupils CAF questioned were all in a state of melancholy and pleaded that the President must allow the Independence Day celebration to hold since the 6th March is an occasion for them to interact with friends from other schools. In some cases, some of the pupils could not fathom why the President has decided to cancel any thing that benefits the school child.

Frankly, looking at the Independence Day celebration in our perspective, CAFbelieves that the 6th Marchis very important day in the history of Ghanaian calendar. It’s a day that reflects the identity of being free from oppression as a Ghanaian. Again, the day is marked to show respect to all people who fought tirelessly for the Independence Day of Ghana.

It’s rather unfortunate that the government of the day has belittled the efforts of the “big six” who struggled for total independence from our colonial masters.

We are also well informed that there is a serious tension mounting up in the Police and the Military and other security services due to the government inability to fund the celebration of the Independence Day.

In order to avoid any mortification, the leadership of CAF and its entire members are appealing to the government to reverse its decision and quickly make funds available for the Independence Day celebration.

Signed:

Ernest Kojo Smith, the Executive Director of CAF Rubin Kwame Ayisi (Operations) John D. Ofori Attah (Research) Egya Adam (Executive Member)

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