The Minority in Parliament is mobilizing a broad-based coalition to put pressure on the government to withdraw the Public Holidays Amendment Act currently before the House.
[contextly_sidebar id=”Nqw2tCBvYoRDy9exrGF3GS467Wk1nOh3″]The amendment, which was laid before the House on Thursday, if accepted, will see August 4 and January 7 made statutory public holidays to mark Founders’ Day and Constitution Day respectively.
This is according to Minority Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, who says the latest amendment amounts to a disrespect to the legacy of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president, hence their resistance.
The North Tongu MP, in a Citi News interview with Duke Mensah Opoku said the minority will vehemently resist the attempt by government to have the holidays changed.
“It is important to serve notice to the government that the Ghanaian people will not be insulted. Our history will not be revised. We will not accept this fascist, familiar attempt to revise the history of our country. President Akufo-Addo should know that he is really playing with fire and he is going to be faced with the kind of resistance that his government has never witnessed nor experienced. There is going to be a series of resistance. There are some things you will not touch. We would have thought that Akufo-Addo will stay on his manifesto promises which he has so far failed to deliver on. The abysmal performance that he has so far exhibited,” he said.
He added that the minority has formed an alliance with other groups of people and individuals outside parliament to fight against the government’s plans.
Ablakwa said, “I can announce to you that we are forming a coalition of not only Ghanaians in the minority, but Ghanaians who feel insulted, who will not accept this sacrilegious attempt to obliterate and desecrate our history. We are mobilizing and you will hear from us soon.”
The minority is among the groups challenging the government’s decision to amend the act. Some have said that the move will distort the country’s history.
Meanwhile, Host of Good Evening Ghana TV Show, Paul Adom Otchere, believes that the move by the government is a step in the right direction and will help better unite the country.
Speaking on Eyewitness News on Thursday he said many people who played various roles in Ghana’s independence struggle needed to be equally celebrated hence his belief that the proposed August 4 Holiday for Founders’ day is necessary.
“I think it is a good idea. It’s been long coming because anyone who has closely studied political history in Gold Coast and in Ghana will realize that a series of events occurred that eventually culminated in the independence event that occurred in 1957. History has not been kind, fair or just to those who laid the foundation, even the academic foundation, the physical and social foundation for the stimulation of our people towards the independence agenda,” he said.
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By: Jonas Nyabor | citinewsroom.com | Ghana
