Ghana’s 60th Independence Anniversary Planning Committee has unveiled a detailed programme of activities for the first phase of the celebration which is expected to end on March 12, 2017.
Chairman of the Committee, Mr Ken Amankwah, unveiled this at a news conference on Monday during the launch of the ‘I Pledge’ campaign to Ghanaians in support of the country’s Diamond Jubilee celebration and mobilising for the nation’s future.
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“Before we can work together, we first need to commit to something that we all believe in. The pledge campaign encourages all Ghanaians to be supportive of the government and the country,” he said.
Here are the key activities:
1. Lord Commey, the Chairman of the Sub-committee on Events, said there would be the launch of a Jubilee Technology Start-up Challenge for the many talented young Ghanaians “to unearth talented innovators whose innovations will accelerate some strand of Ghana’s development.”
2. He said tales from yesteryears, a documentary featuring older people recounting their experiences and memories of the pre-independence struggle, independence, and the post-independence era, would also be running on television.
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3. Lord Commey said there will also be a launch of a Jubilee Youth Entrepreneur Challenge. He said the move is to solicit business ideas from young people across the country and reward the most-likely-to-be- profitable ideas.
4. There would also be a lecture on the theme: “Mobilising for Ghana’s future”, to herald a series of nationwide lectures outlined for the year-long programme.
5. There would also be a national flag-draping campaign where businesses, as part of their corporate responsibility, are being asked to adopt the major roads near their offices and decorate them with flags, buntings, balloons and lights.
6. The Committee also announced a night of choral music, the highlight of which would be the launch by the National Symphony Orchestra of a rendition of the National Anthem using only local instruments.
7. The Ghana Museums and Monuments Board (GMMB) would mount a photo exhibition depicting the colonial times. The board would subsequently transform parts of the Christianborg Castle, the former seat of government at Osu, into a museum space.
8. As part of efforts to celebrate the country’s former leaders, there would be the inauguration of a Presidential Museum which would be a legacy project. The move is also to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the GMMB, which falls on February 5.
9. There would also be the ‘Know Your Ghana’ campaign, a domestic tourism campaign spearheaded by the Presidency, which would be launched at the photo exhibition.
Lord Commey said that when the perpetual flame was lit on Independence Day, a torch would also be lit using the flame.
10. There would also be a relay torch for all regions. “This torch will embark on a relay throughout the whole of Ghana, region by region, and return to its starting point on March 6, 2018. Chiefs, opinion leaders, local celebrities and Ghanaians from all walks of life will be part of this relay,” Lord Commey said.
He said the President would, within the period, cut the sod for the Presidential Legacy Project. There would also be the Masqueraders’ Festival and the National Festival on Culture where each region would be given an opportunity to showcase a part of its unique culture.
