to preparations to climax of the Golden Jubilee celebrations on
Tuesday and President John Agyekum Kufuor gets set to host dozens of
his colleagues with hope for the future the country.
"This is the time to take pride in our land and in ourselves, let
us celebrate Ghana," says President Kufuor as he galvanises the nation
into action for a brighter and more prosperous future.
"We have recovered our track and are making headway. We should be
careful not to miss our way again," he said in his State of the Nation
address on February 8.
Virtually all important streets, especially the ceremonial
routes, intersections and roundabouts have seen fresh coats of white
paint.
Workers are busy at the various roundabouts where statues of
heroes of the independence struggle have been erected.
The national flag of red, gold and green with the black star in
the middle of the gold are fluttering in the gentle sea breeze while
many buildings in the city are also bedecked with the national
colours.
Nearly every vehicle has a national flag either flying outside or
inside as they display patriotism. Some have even painted their
vehicles in the national colours.
Souvenirs, such as flags, pens, caps, t-shirts are on sale on the
streets, especially at traffic lights.
Trees along important routes have been trimmed beautifully and
the Independence Square, which is the venue for a parade of school
children and security services, is seeing last minute touches, as the
country puts its best foot for the anniversary.
The country is in a jubilant mood and carnivals and street
parties are expected on Tuesday.
Ghana, which was the first country south of the Sahara to attain
independence in 1957, an event that opened the floodgates for the
total liberation of the continent, is expecting hundreds of
dignitaries to grace the occasion.
Mr Andrew Awuni, Presidential spokesman, says this is the first
time Ghana is hosting 30 heads of state and their entourage from about
70 countries.
Over 500 journalists have applied for accreditation out of which
300 are from the international media such as Cable News Network (CNN),
British Broadcasting Corporation, OBE TV of London and South Africa
Broadcasting Corporation.
"The world media would descend on Ghana," he says.
Security is expected to be tight. The police say a communication
network that will enable security services, intelligence agencies and
the military to communicate among themselves and act fast on issues
during the nation's 50th anniversary has been established.
Mr Patrick K. Acheampong, Inspector General of Police (IGP), says
under the new network provided by the National Communication
Authority, phone numbers would be given to the public to call during
emergency situations.
The police finally got a difficult problem out of the way when an
Accra Fast Track High Court dismissed ex-parte motion filed by the
Committee for Joint Action (CJA) seeking an order to set aside its
ruling prohibiting them from embarking on a procession on March 6 was
on Friday dismissed by the same court.
The court presided over by Mr Justice P. Baffoe-Bonney reiterated
that at certain times the interest of the nation should override
individual rights or parochial interest.
The CJA last month announced that it would hold a Peoples'
Jubilee Procession on Independence Day in Accra from Kwame Nkrumah
Circle to Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum where it would lay a wreath.
However, the police said they could not allow the procession to
go ahead since they would be unable to give the demonstrators
protection because of commitments during the Independence Day
celebrations where scores of foreign delegations were expected.
The CJA said it wanted to provide "a popular platform for the
masses as an alternative to the essentially elitist Ghana@50
programme".
It said it wanted to underline the political significance of
Ghana's independence as an important victory in the worldwide struggle
of the ordinary people against elitism.
The CJA also said it wanted "to celebrate Kwame Nkrumah, the
pre-eminent strategist and tactician of the struggles against
classical colonialism".
According to President Kufuor, on the balance, the political,
economic and social conditions showed that "Ghana, the Black Star of
Africa, is on the rise again".
"This should make all of us nationals happy about the various
contributions and sacrifices we have made, individually and
collectively to bring the nation this far."
He urges the people should use the opportunity of the Golden
Jubilee celebration to uplift their spirits and the national psyche,
adding that the obvious challenge now was how to accelerate the
development for the betterment of the entire society.
This appreciation, he says, should strengthen the resolve of the
people to work together in overcoming existing problems and drawbacks
like the energy crisis, pockets of conflict arising mainly from
chieftaincy disputes, low salaries, wages and productivity with their
attendant high unemployment and the impact of globalisation on
socio-economic development programmes.
05 March 2007
