June 4 no more holiday

Ghana's Parliament has deleted the observation of June 4 as a Statutory Public Holiday, in spite of intense protest from the Minority against the decision.

Despite the initial objections, the Majority was able to block the observation of the day as holiday.

The Minority led by the Second deputy Speaker, Ken Dzirasah raised an initial objection to the bill saying it is legally, constitutionally and procedurally wrong.

Quoting Article 106 Clause (2) Sub-clause B of the 1992 Constitution the Minority argued that the Public Holidays Bill was not properly before the House because according to the Standing Orders of the House the Bill should be at least 14 days since its publication in the gazette before it can be brought to the floor of the House for passage.

Hon. Dzirasah also MP for South Tongu Constituency, argued that the publication of the Bill in the gazette takes it from the under the purview of an urgent one and therefore should have been allowed to mature. "Once there is publication, time must run for 14 days", the deputy Speaker said.

He noted that the purpose of publishing the Bill in the gazette is to allow members of the public to make inputs before the Bill is passed.

The Minority Chief Whip, Doe Adjahoe who also supported the First deputy Speaker's stand on the matter submitted that the practice would not advance the cause of parliamentary democracy.

He made reference to the passing of the Bill that made celebration of June 4, a holiday saying about 40 submissions were received from the public for and against its passage and asked that same be done in this one as well so that the Bill can stand the test of time.

The deputy Majority Leader, Papa Owusu-Ankomah disagreed with the submissions made by the Minority saying they are not supported by any clause of the Constitution and the Standing Orders of the House. He accordingly, asked the First deputy Speaker, Freddy Blay who was in the chair in the absence of the Speaker, to throw out the objection.

In his ruling, Hon. Blay said the objection should have been raised at the time the Bill was introduced. He noted that the gazetting of the Bill does not take away its urgent nature adding, "the Bill is proper before the House."

June 4 has become a statutory public holiday in Ghana and has been observed with lots of activities every year under the previous regime. The NPP made its intentions of discontinuing with the celebration of June 4 if it comes to power. The introduction of the Bill therefore was to block this celebration and the observation of the day as a national holiday.

The Bill presented to the House by the Minister for the Interior, Alhaji Malik Al-Hassan Yakubu, described the June 4 as a "military mutiny and a military take-over and therefore contradicts the principles of a democratic and constitutional order."

Government is of the view that the process of national reconciliation and the consolidation of democracy require that June 4 be also confined to the same category as events, which ought not to be celebrated and or observed as a public holiday.

Former President Jerry John Rawlings staged a coup on June 4 1979 to overthrow the then military regime and formed the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) to as it were put a stop to what he described as corruption and dictatorship of the leaders then.

Although many Ghanaians including some members of the present government supported the revolution then and what it stood for, some think that some of the things that followed the revolution were unjustified and also the leaders lost focus and so the event should not be celebrated although most of them still stands by the principles of the revolution.

Indications are that the NDC would observe the event on Monday June 4 but it will not be a public holiday as it used to be.