Volta region selected to host 2023 National Independence Day

The Volta Region has been selected to host this year’s National Independence Day celebration slated for March 6, 2023, at the 5,000-capacity Ho Youth Resource Centre (located at Adaklu Tsrefe), a government official has announced.

The announcement comes after the Director of Operations at the Office of the President, Lord Commey on January 20, 2023, led a delegation to notify the Volta Regional House of Chiefs (VRHS) about the upcoming national event.

Mr Commey, Chairman of the National Independence Day Celebration Planning Committee, was accompanied by heads of various security agencies and officials from the Office of the President, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In a discussion with the Chiefs, he said President Akufo-Addo selected their region to market the rich and vast cultural and tourism potential of the Volta Region to the rest of the country and the outside world, and boost the area’s local economy.

“The Independence Square in Accra alone can no longer take up this key national event,” the National Independence Day Planning Committee member told the Volta Regional House of Chiefs.

Independence Day is a national holiday celebrated yearly. This day is an official state holiday for the citizens of Ghana both within and in the diaspora to honour and celebrate the Heroes of Ghana who led the country to attain its independence.

Celebrated on March 6 every year in the country, National Independence Day is also a remembrance of the day that marks the declaration of Ghanaian independence from British colonial rule.

It’s observed on March 6 annually because the first Prime Minister of Ghana, Dr Kwame Nkrumah who became the Head of State from 1957 to 1960 declared on March 6, 1957, that the people of Ghana were free from colonial rule.

“The African People are capable of managing their own affairs and Ghana our beloved country is free forever,” the first president of the Republic of Ghana declared at a gathering on March 6, 1957.

Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah’s freedom declaration made Ghana formally known as the Gold Coast the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to achieve its independence from European colonial rule.

This year, President Akufo-Addo is expected to take part in the celebration which will feature air shows, spectacular military drills, cultural displays and a parade by contingents from the various security agencies and selected schools.