Former President John Dramani Mahama has stated he will not attend today’s March 6 Independence Day celebration in Ho.
The event will use the slogan “Our Unity, Our Strength, Our Mission” as its theme.
Mr. said that the event’s planners turned it into a political party jamboree as New Patriotic Party (NPP) followers were bussed in to support their leaders.
According to Mr. Mahama, the Independence Day celebration is a somber national day that shouldn’t be appropriated by a political party.
On Sunday, March 5, Mr. Mahama, who is running to be the NDC’s flagbearer for the general elections in 2024, said at the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Professional Forum Dinner and Awards Night in Accra, Ghana, “I just came from the Volta Region, and just when I was leaving they were preparing to celebrate the Independence Day. Due to the fact that Independence Day has turned into a party extravaganza, I no longer go. When I arrived in Tamale, they instructed GBC to turn off the camera because they had bussed all of their fans into the stadium.
“When I entered the stadium, it was empty. I proceeded to find a seat, and once they offered me a spot somewhere, I sat down there while they took up the dais. [The supporters] screamed whenever one of them approached.
“I claimed I didn’t want to participate in this party extravaganza. Everyone is welcome to attend the somber national holiday of Independence, which is commemorated in Independence Plaza. I don’t want to take part in the party celebration today since they bus their fans in, they have party flags, and they are sporting party T-shirts.
I won’t attend an Independence Day anniversary if it is hijacked by one party because I don’t want to participate in an NPP Jamboree, yet Nkrumah gave us independence, and I am a Nkrumahist. Watch what happens when they bus their people there and take over the entire area.
The Volta Region branch of the opposition NDC is requesting that the government return GH126 million as money owed to the region in connection with the celebration in Ho.
This sum, according to the NDC, is the total of the GH1 million per constituency every year pledge made by the Akufo-Addo government, which the party claims has fallen behind for the last seven years.
The Volta Region branch of the opposition NDC is requesting that the government return GH126 million as money owed to the region in connection with the celebration in Ho.
This sum, according to the NDC, is the total of the GH1 million per constituency every year pledge made by the Akufo-Addo government, which the party claims has fallen behind for the last seven years.
The NDC in the Volta Region claimed that “exceptional terrible governance, unthinkable levels of corruption, and the very high cost of living” are diminishing the joy and passion that often characterize the celebration of the nation’s independence anniversary.
The NDC stated in a statement released by the Regional Secretary, James Gunu, that it would be appropriate for President Nana Addo to use the Independence Day celebration to express regret to the good people of Volta Region for the type of humiliations he subjected the good people of the Region to during the 2020 voter registration.
“It is evident that the excitement and fervor that often accompany our Independence Day festivities is being eroded by the unparalleled terrible government, unfathomable levels of corruption, and the extraordinarily high cost of living.
“There is no spirit of patriotism and nationalism in the management of the country’s economy.”
