Akwaaba to Republic Day!

This week’s article was earmarked to be the concluding part of the series that sought to evaluate the criminal justice system using the Yaw Asante Agyekum case as a reference point. 

For those of you who are new to this column, the case in point is the tragic story of the miscarriage of justice suffered by the gentleman, who was incarcerated for almost 23 years for a crime he did not commit.

The review of the criminal justice system will surely return, given its importance in our court system but, for now, I crave your indulgence to write on the long overdue return of the celebration of Republic Day — its status and significance.

The government recently under Certificate of Emergency in Parliament, restored July 1, as a national holiday.

The previous government reduced the day to only ‘commemorative status’, much to the chagrin of most Ghanaians.

This is because the significance of July 1 in the political history of Ghana cannot be understated, as the demotion to commemorative status sought to imply.

It is the day Ghana came of age relinquishing the constitutional monarchy under the reign of Queen Elizabeth for self-government under a presidential system.

It was the day that Ghana broke free from the shackles of colonisation and became a sovereign state.

Even though Ghana had attained independence on March 6, 1957, the country was still administered from England.

Areas such as defence, the economy, foreign affairs, etc., were still administered from Westminster.

Status

Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the leader of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) who was the Prime Minister, caused a referendum to be organised nationwide on the political status of Ghana.

The two questions posed in the referendum of April 1960 were whether Ghana should become an independent republic and whether the system of government should be presidential.

Ghanaians overwhelmingly returned the YES answer to both questions so Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah went ahead and declared July 1, 1960 as Republic Day.

The country on that day took our destiny into our own hands.

From that day, Ghana proudly took its place in the comity of nations as a logical step from becoming independent in 1957 —the first in sub-Saharan Africa.

Yours truly is excited, indeed thrilled, that the current government has restored the status quo in reinforcing the true significance of the day.

Hopefully, we should all, in celebrating Republic Day, have a sober reflection, indulge in massive introspection on journey so far as an independent sovereign state.

Undoubtedly, there have been jolts and hiccups, but we should dwell on the positive strides made so far in diverse areas as foundations for further growth.

The day should be used to foster national unity under a collective purpose for development, as the current polarisation does not augur well for a prosperous future for us and the unborn.

Talking about the birth of modern Ghana on Republic Day brings the subject of birthdays to the fore.

By dint of sheer coincidence, yours truly also has July 1 as my birthday.

Apart from advocating the restoration of July 1 as a national holiday (which was beyond argument given its huge significance) there was the small matter of enjoying one’s birthday as a national holiday.

The advantages were that as people were always in a great holiday mood, it reflected in their generosity, resulting in receiving goodies as presents on the day!

Yours truly, therefore, has an extra impetus to be grateful for the restoration of Republic Day.

Affairs

Now, moving from light humour to more serious matters, our first President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, once said on the attainment of independence that “the black man is capable of managing his own affairs”.

Becoming a full Republic on July 1 was the beginning of the unravelling of that confident phrase. Have we proved capable of managing our own affairs?

I think we would all agree that there is still much to be improved in this country which we love so dearly, from the economy to the roads to the criminal justice system.

In fact, this very column is an attempt to advocate reforms to the criminal justice system which my new NGO will also address.

It seems that with the ‘resetting’ agenda, we are heading in the right direction by exposing the ‘rotten wood’ and proposing forward-thinking legislation on, for example, environmental matters.

Let us use July 1 as a springboard to a better and more equitable Ghana.

The writer is a lawyer.
E-mail: georgebshaw1@gmail.com