Those who boycotted Independence Day parade have conscience - Governance Expert

A Governance Expert, Mr Jonathan Asante Okyere, says those who boycotted the just ended 66th Independence Day Parade at Adaklu, including some government officials and the Former President, John Dramani Mahama did that based on conscience.

He was of the belief that most of them did not attend the programme because they felt it was a conduit for wasting money which could have been used to cater for other pressing needs of the country.

The 66th Independence Day Parade was held on March 6, 2023 at the Volta Regional Youth Resource Centre at Adaklu Tsrefe, near Ho in the Volta Region.

Contingents of the security agencies and students from selected senior high schools and basic schools formed the parade.

Some political figures, traditional authorities, the security agencies, members of the diplomatic corps and others attended the programme.

The President of Guinea-Bissau and Chairman of ECOWAS, Umaru Sissoco Embalo, was the Guest of Honour at the event, which was also attended by the Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, and his wife, Samira Bawumia.

Although Mr John Dramani Mahama was invited, he boycotted the event because he described the one he last attended at Tamale as a party Jamboree which he said he did not want to be part of.

Speaking on Atinka TV’s morning show, Ghana Nie with Nana Yaw Fianko, Mr Jonathan Asante Okyere said it was more of a personal and principled decision taken by the former President and others who were invited but did not show up.

“Looking at the situation in which we find ourselves, they decided that it is not worth attending it anymore because they see that it is one of the conduits used to waste money, especially when as a nation, there are certain small things that money can be used to cater for.

I think it is more of a principled personal decision and we cannot begrudge them that much,” he said.

Before the event, some members of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) urged the government to cancel the 66th Independence Day Parade, labeling it a waste of money.

Also responding to this, he stated that he partially opposes the request, but from a different perspective, he supports it.

The Parade, Mr Jonathan Asante Okyere observed, helps the people to remember the toil of Ghana’s forefathers and as well help to pass on history to the younger generation.

He proposed that the Day be commemorated with monumental projects, such that each year a building is inaugurated alongside the procession, whether it be a hospital, school, or any other form of development that would be memorialized at the locations where the parade is held.

On the other hand, he stated that if the government cannot produce vaccines to protect infants, then the country is also extremely hazardous.

“If these vaccines are not available to protect infants, then we live in a perilous environment. Even more severe and perilous is the fact that our Health Minister is evading parliament, causing us all problems. We have allowed some people to question the significance of a celebration when even basic vaccines that will protect the next generation’s children from polio, measles, and other diseases are not in our coffers or our system. I believe this is the worst we could get as a nation and a democracy, and it is a massive indictment of the current leadership of the country,“ he said.