'NCCE must deepen public education on Constitution Day'

The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has been urged to step up efforts at raising public awareness on the significance of the National Constitution Day, which marks the adoption of the Fourth Republican Constitution.

The day is designated a public holiday to mark the coming into effect of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution and the birth of the Fourth Republic.

It was first observed last year, the newly designated holiday, to remind Ghanaians of their commitment to uphold the tenets of rule of law, constitutionalism and democracy.

“Most people do not know the reason for celebrating the day,” Mr Ibrahim Mohammed, a Journalist with Zaa Radio in Tamale told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview.

“I think the NCCE and other relevant stakeholders should join forces to sensitize members of the public so that they will know why the day is worth celebrating,” he added.

“If you go to the street to ask people why today has been declared a holiday, you will be shocked that about 90 per cent would tell you they do not know.”

Mr Mohammed said increased public education on the day’s significance would encourage Ghanaians to appreciate the relevance in commemorating it.

Mr Mohammed proposed that copies of the Constitution be stocked in basic and secondary school libraries nationwide for easy access and also to encourage school children to read it.

Mr Mohammed Fugu, another Journalist with Tamale Office of the Graphic Communication Group leading newspaper, Daily Graphic, was of the opinion that the Day could be marked without being declared a public holiday.

“The day should be a working day to increase productivity in the country,” he said.

Madam Sandra Akoto, a resident of Tamale, noted: “We have a lot of holidays in the country and I do not see the relevance of this day, besides, I have no idea what it is about”.

However, she proposed that the government and other institutions should mark the Day with events countrywide just like the Independence Day is celebrated, “So that it will draw people’s attention to why we have today as a holiday”.