Ghana at 69: Turning Independence Day Excitement into Everyday Nation Building
Ghana at 69: Turning Independence Day Excitement into Everyday Nation Building
On 6th March, this year (2026), we commemorated Ghana’s 69th Independence anniversary, and the day was marked with various events and activities not only in Ghana, but at various Ghanaian Embassies and High Commissions in different countries.
The excitement that many Ghanaians displayed was very impressive. As I followed the reports on the events held across the world to celebrate this all-important day, I had mixed-feelings.
On one hand, I shared in the excitement, especially as I reflected on the many challenges that we have survived over these 69 years of our national life, including the 1983 drought and bush fires that resulted in severe famine across the country. On the other hand, I was sad because we have not succeeded in achieving the ideals and aspirations for our independence, such as building a truly united, peaceful, and economically self-reliant Ghana, which our founding fathers envisaged and fought for.
Certainly, Ghana has been relatively peaceful and democratically stable, especially under the Fourth Republic (since 1993). However, we could do better. The questions that keep coming to my mind are, was the excitement that characterized this year’s celebration just about the day? Are we going to translate that excitement into practical daily commitments to building Ghana into a great, strong, and prosperous country?
We should understand that building a united, peaceful, stable, and prosperous nation is a collective responsibility of all citizens, including governments, businesspersons, private and public sector professionals, traditional leaders, students, civil society organizations, labour unions, political parties, farmers, and clergy. We must move from blaming our past to taking ownership and responsibility to build Ghana.
In.my book, “Beyond Partisan Politics: A Call to Nation -Building,” I referred to a statement that is credited to Martin Luther King Jr, which says that: “A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends; and when the soul of a nation long suppressed, finds utterance.”
The excitement that characterized this year’s independence anniversary celebration should signal the moment for change. We must all commit ourselves to work to overcome ethnic and partisan disunity and unite as one people to build one Ghana that posterity and we will be truly proud of. We should understand that every ethnic group has specific and unique contributions to make toward building Ghana, just as political parties must understand that they exist to serve the country, not themselves.
We should be mindful of what the 1992 Constitution states in Article 36 (2), that: the state shall, in particular, take all necessary steps to establish a sound and healthy economy whose underlying principles shall include… (e) ” the recognition that the most secure democracy is the one that assures the necessities of life for its people as a fundamental duty.”
Whilst the government exercises the authority of the state, achieving the above-quoted constitutional provision is a collective responsibility. We should not let the excitement of the 69th independence anniversary celebration be a momentary one. Instead, we should let it generate in us the right sense of patriotism and nationalism. It should inspire a sense of urgency in us to achieve our development aspirations as the true Black Star of Africa.
By Apostle Emmanuel Quayson, LEAD Right Consult, author of Beyond Partisan Politics: A Call To Nation-Building.
