Today January 7, is being marked as Constitution Day in Ghana and its a public holiday.
Government of Ghana in December last year, presented a bill before parliament to amend the Public Holidays Act to include January 7, August 4 and September 21 as statutory public holidays.
January 7, 1993, was the day the current Constitution came into force for the Fourth Republic of Ghana after its approval at a Referendum held on April 28, 1992.
January 7, is also the day new Heads of State are sworn into office.
A statement from the Interior Ministry said the day is worth to be observed as Constitution Day to acknowledge the collective efforts as a country in ensuring that the tenets of democracy, the rule of law and the principles of constitutionalism are upheld.
The commemoration of the Constitution Day offers Ghanaians an opportunity to introspect constitutional progress in Ghana. That’s according to the Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah.
Recounting the eras when Ghanaians were ruled by arbitrariness and oppression, Mr. Oppong Nkrumah indicated that the Constitution day has become necessary for us as Ghanaians to continuously remind ourselves of how far we have come as a nation and how we are continuously building on constitutional governance.
The maiden Constitution Day will be marked with a lecture which will be delivered by the Rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Professor Philip Ebow Bondzi-Simpson, at the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Professor Bondzie Simpson will be speaking on the topic “Constitutionalism in Ghana’s Fourth Republic: Towards Functional Performance”.
The Ministry is urging the public to participate in Today’s public lecture.
The lecture will be broadcast live on major media platforms and the Ministry of Information’s social media handles.
Ruth Abla Adjorlolo
