Member of Parliament for Ellembele, Mr. Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, has indicated that the Minority will not allow the current government administration to change the history of the the country.
The Member of Parliament from the Minority side accused the current government of attempting to change the history of the country by deliberately erasing the name of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah from the history books.
Mr. Armah-Kofi Buah averred that the current government intends to basically scrap off the Republic Day of July 1 and replace it with the Constitutional Day celebrated on January 7.
Speaking to the Parliamentary Press Corp in an interview, Mr. Armah-Kofi Buah stated that the celebration of the Founders’ Day on August 4 was propelled by the government and the celebration of Nkrumah’s birthday has been marked as a footnote.
Mr. Armah-Kofi Buah averred that it is an attempt to water-down the significance of the effort of Dr. Nkrumah, leading to the Independence and the Republic Days.
He however, said that the Minority acknowledges the effort of the big six and others, leading to the agitation and consciousness of Ghanaians on the need to have self-determination.
He added that when it came to the specific issue of 1957 and Independence, it was Dr. Nkrumah who was most instrumental.
“This government must be served the notice that the Minority in Parliament will come to power very soon and will change what has been changed by the previous government. When that hour came for people to stand for the independence of Ghana, it was Nkrumah who stood up in that fight for the nation”, he lamented.
Mr. Armah-Kofi Buah concluded that whenever there is an issue that is of a national nature, it is right for the sitting government to engage in broad consultations to ensure that ideas and views are shared to provide positive outcomes.
Meanwhile, the Holiday (Amendment) Bill, 2018 has been submitted to Parliament, to amend some of the existing holidays and also add some new holidays.
The Bill was submitted by the government through the Ministry of Interior and was subsequently referred to the Parliamentary Select Committee on Defence and Interior for report.
Interior and Defence Committee’s Report
The purpose of the Bill is to amend the Public Holidays Act, 2001 (Act 601), to provide for the 7th day of January, the 4th day of August and the 21st day of September as additional statutory public holidays and for the celebration of the 25th day of May and the 1st day of July as commemorative days.
The Committee’s Observation
The Committee noted that the existing Founder’s Day holiday which is observed on the 21st day of September, will now be observed as a Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Day and would continue to be a public holiday.
The 4th of August would also be observed as a public holiday in recognition and appreciation of the role the forebears played towards the founding of independent Ghana.
The 7th of January would likewise be observed as a public holiday in remembrance of the coming into force of the 1992 Constitution, which birthed the Fourth Republic, the longest.
The African Union (AU) and Republic Day will now be observed as commemorative days.
The Committee observed that in 2002, an amendment was made to the Public Holiday Act, 2001 (Act 601), to include African Union Day (AU) and the amendment was later consolidated in Act 601.
Minority walkout
The Minority walked out from the House and refused to take part in the deliberation on the Defence and Interior Committee’s report on the Holiday (Amendment) Bill, 2018.
The Minority averred that it is illegal for the government to rewrite the history of the country by making Dr. Nkrumah’s birthday as a commemorative day and fixing August 4 as Holiday to celebrate Founders’ Day.
Source: GhanaJustice/S.Ayisi
