Ghana marks 66th Independence Day celebration

Ghana will today, March 6, 2023, mark its 66th Independence Day at Ho, the Volta Regional capital.

The event will be co-hosted with the Adaklu District at the Volta Regional Youth Resource Centre at Adaklu.

The Volta Regional Coordinating Council has been working feverishly to put the necessary arrangements in place to make this year’s celebration memorable since the announcement was made.

This year’s event is on the theme: “Our Unity, Our Strength, Our Purpose”. President Umaro Sissoco Embaló of Guinea Bissau, who is also the Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), is the Special Guest of Honour.

More than 5,000 people from across the country, including members of the diplomatic corps, the clergy, traditional rulers and other dignitaries are in the Municipality to participate in the event. In 2017, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo decided the independence celebration be held on a rotational basis to open the regions to the world to boost the local economy.

This is the first time that the Volta Region is hosting the national independence parade, which commemorates the Day Ghana formally weaned itself from British colonial rule. A total of 22 contingents from the various security agencies and 12 from the various schools in the Volta Region would be on parade, aside from other performances.

The 66 Artillery Regiment in Ho is in charge of the march past. As of Saturday, March 4, 2023, many hotels in the Ho Municipality and the Adaklu District were reported to have been fully booked – with some even booked a week earlier. The regional capital has been decorated with the Ghana flag, with several offices also draping their buildings in Ghana colours (red, yellow, green) to mark the occasion. Ho township roads as well as the Atimpoku-Ho road have seen some facelifts.

On 6th March 1957, Ghana gained independence after 83 years of British colonial rule – becoming the first sub-Saharan African country to achieve independence from Britain.

The country’s first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah declared Ghana as “free forever” from colonial rule, marking a historic turning point in the governance of the country. Since that day, every March 6 is celebrated across the country and among Ghanaians abroad with various activities, some of which are observed throughout the month of March.