By Emmanuel Gamson, GNA
Tamale, Jan. 8, GNA – The National
Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has been urged to step up efforts at
raising public awareness on the significance of the National Constitution Day,
which marks the adoption of the Fourth Republican Constitution.
The day is designated a public holiday to
mark the coming into effect of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution and the birth of the
Fourth Republic.
It was first observed last year, the newly
designated holiday, to remind Ghanaians of their commitment to uphold the
tenets of rule of law, constitutionalism and democracy.
“Most people do not know the reason for
celebrating the day,” Mr Ibrahim Mohammed, a Journalist with Zaa Radio in
Tamale told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview.
“I think the NCCE and other relevant
stakeholders should join forces to sensitize members of the public so that they
will know why the day is worth celebrating,” he added.
“If you go to the street to ask people why
today has been declared a holiday, you will be shocked that about 90 per cent
would tell you they do not know.”
Mr Mohammed said increased public education
on the day’s significance would encourage Ghanaians to appreciate the relevance
in commemorating it.
Mr Mohammed proposed that copies of the
Constitution be stocked in basic and secondary school libraries nationwide for
easy access and also to encourage school children to read it.
Mr Mohammed Fugu, another Journalist with
Tamale Office of the Graphic Communication Group leading newspaper, Daily
Graphic, was of the opinion that the Day could be marked without being declared
a public holiday.
“The day should be a working day to increase
productivity in the country,” he said.
Madam Sandra Akoto, a resident of Tamale,
noted: “We have a lot of holidays in the country and I do not see the relevance
of this day, besides, I have no idea what it is about”.
However, she proposed that the government
and other institutions should mark the Day with events countrywide just like
the Independence Day is celebrated, “So that it will draw people’s attention to
why we have today as a holiday”.
GNA
