ONCE upon a time Ghana’s independence was said to be significant in as far as our national anthem and our flag were concerned.
IN short, Ghana’s independence was said to be symbolic in national anthem and flag.
CERTAINLY, self-rule means more than these two symbols. It gave opportunity to the people to manage their own affairs, for good or for bad.
DURING self-rule in the shortest possible time while another group fought for self-rule now.
IN the heat of the struggle, our first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, who was leading the agitation for self-rule now said, “We prefer self-government in danger to servitude in tranquility.”
INDEED Ghana, at independence, held a lot of promise, especially when the opportunity gave us the platform to either manage or mismanage our own affairs.
OUR independence was achieved on March 6, 1957, a period when many African countries were under colonial rule, compelling Dr Nkrumah to state, “the independence of Ghana is meaningless, unless it is linked up with the total liberation of the African continent.”

OUR country has come a long way since independence and we should not allow our detractors to trivialise our self-rule as a flag and national anthem initiative.

IN retrospect, our country is facing many development challenges but the problems cannot break our resolve to build a country in which everybody can eke out a living without let or hindrance.

FOR instance, we are confronted by issues that are peculiar to a growing economy, such as corruption and unemployment.

OUR governments have been doing their best to resolve these challenges but actions have been very slow and we have very few results to show for them.

FOR the past 64 years we have used the celebrations to rekindle the spirit of patriotism among the people to buoy them up to reshape our destiny.
JUST as there was a lot of anxiety and excitement at independence, so was it when we decided to adopt multi-party democracy in 1993.

BUT, just as the enthusiasm for independence fizzled out along the line for lack of patriotism and sacrifice, today some people are not too sure of the dividends of democracy.

WE have the opportunity to manage our own affairs now and we have no excuse for failure after having done so for the past 64 years.

WE think that if we have challenges in building an egalitarian society, it is about time we bonded better to build a society in which everybody has a contribution to make.

IT is our hope that all the political parties will approach the competition for power in a more accommodating and open manner, despite our political differences, in order to make independence more meaningful and fulfilling.