January 7 is a holiday – Interior Minister declares

The Minister for the Interior, Ambrose Dery has announced, for the information of the general public, that January 7, 2020 has been declared a public holiday.

The day would be observed nationwide as the Constitution Day to mark the adoption of the Constitution of the Fourth Republic of Ghana on 7 January 1993.

“The general public is hereby informed that Tuesday, 7th January 2020 which marks CONSTITUTION DAY, is a Statutory Public Holiday and should be observed as such throughout the country,” the Minister said in a statement on Friday December 27, 2019.

History of the Constitution Day

The 1992 Constitution came into force for the Fourth Republic of Ghana, on 7 January 1993, following its overwhelming approval in a referendum held on 28 April 1992.

The Constitution defines the fundamental political principles, establishing the structure, procedures, powers and duties of the government, structure of the judiciary and legislature, and spells out the fundamental rights and duties of citizen.

7th January is also the day new Heads of State are sworn into office in Ghana.

The day is intended to acknowledge Ghana’s collective efforts at ensuring that the tenets of democracy, rule of law and principles of constitutionalism are upheld.

Constitution Day is a new Public Holiday, which was observed for the first time in Ghana on 7 January 2019.

This day has been declared as an additional holiday under Section 2 of the Public Holiday Act, 2001 (Act 601).