July 1 Reinstated as Public Holiday as Mahama Administration Scraps August 4 Founders' Day Holiday
- The Mahama administration has made significant holiday reforms following the amendment of the Public Holidays and Commemorative Days bill
- Among others, August 4 as Founders' Day has been scrapped, with September 21 as Founders' Day reinstated
- July 1’s Republic Day has been made a statutory holiday again, while also formalising the Shaqq Day as a statutory public holiday
Parliament has passed the Public Holidays and Commemorative Days (Amendment) Bill, 2025, which returns July 1’s Republic Day to statutory holiday status.
The bill also provides for Shaqq Day as a statutory public holiday, which is observed a day after the Eid al-Fitr celebration.
Source: Getty Images
The bill also deletes August 4 as Founders' Day and reinstates September 21, which is the birthday of Ghana's first president, Kwame Nkrumah, as Founders' Day.
Parliament under the Akufo-Addo administration approved August 4 as a Statutory Holiday in 2019, and it was first celebrated in 2021.
August 4 was instituted to honour the various heroes and heroines who contributed to the independence struggle though it was criticised as a partisan effort spotlighting icons of the New Patriotic Party political tradition.
Critics also described August 4 as the then-President Akufo-Addo's attempt to exalt his family members, who had been part of the country’s independence struggle and undermine Nkrumah.
The president’s family members like J.B. Danquah, William Ofori-Atta and others are also infamously remembered for their opposition to Kwame Nkrumah and his independence struggle.
Other public holiday changes
Another major change in the bill empowers the President to shift public holidays that fall on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, or Thursdays to either the following Friday or preceding Monday, to improve national productivity and scheduling flexibility.
The bill was passed under a certificate of urgency after being presented by the Minister of the Interior, Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka, on June 24, 2025.
That was after the Committee on Defence and Interior and the leadership of the Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs considered it to be urgent.
Moving the motion to adopt the committee’s report, Muntaka said the government had looked at the number of holidays and, in line with some of the promises it had made with regards to the holidays, had restructured the holidays to take away those that were controversial.
He also said the government believed that the July 1 commemorative day was very significant in the life of Ghana and “therefore we are bringing it back as a full holiday”.
He also explained that August 4’s Founders’ Day was scrapped because it is considered divisive.
“Because we believe that as a country, we are not unanimous around it, and it served as a divisive day for us as Ghanaians."
Source: Getty Images
CPP slams Akufo-Addo over Founders’ Day speech
YEN.com.gh reported in 2024 that the Convention People's Party had rejected then-President Akufo-Addo's claim that Nkrumah was not Ghana's sole founder.
According to the party, the former president and the New Patriotic Party's attempt to denigrate Nkrumah and his legacy would not succeed.
The party also said as a result of his remark, Ghanaians would reject the NPP and its flagbearer, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, in the December 7, 2024, elections.
Proofreading by Samuel Gitonga, copy editor at YEN.com.gh.
Source: YEN.com.gh
