We're happy Kumasi is hosting the 63rd Independence celebrations - Residents

Some residents in Kumasi, touted as Ghana's oldest and the second-largest city, are giving thumbs up to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for his choice of Kumasi as the venue for the national independence anniversary celebration, for the first time.

During a random street interview conducted by the Ghana News Agency, most of the respondents expressed joy and pride that the city was witnessing such a great historic occasion for the first time and thanked President Akufo-Addo for the gesture.

“I am happy that the government in power has decided to come to Kumasi to celebrate the Independence Day, which has never been held in Kumasi before and I am very excited about the decision”.

“Many people in Kumasi have only witnessed this event on television sets and now that it is going to be held here, people will get the chance to witness it with their own eyes”, said Mr Kwadwo Donkor, a second-hand clothes dealer at the Kumasi Central Market.

The market women who spoke with the GNA news team also expressed their joy and praised the Government in power for bringing this great event to Kumasi.

They said, “we will be able to get high sales for our products because, during Independence Day celebration, people come from all parts of the country and beyond to witness this event, so it will be a great opportunity for us to increase our sales”.

Some of the respondents, however, expressed mixed feelings about Ghana's attainment of independence in 1957 led by Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah.

Whiles others praised Dr Nkrumah and his associates for fighting so hard gaining independence for the people of Ghana, others felt it was too pre-mature for the country to have gained independence at that time, because the country was not yet developed economically.

Mr Kofi Fofie, a 55-year-old spare parts dealer was of the view that “the whites should have been here to manage our affairs for us because since they left, there has not been much development”.

“We have cocoa, diamond, gold, timber, bauxite, manganese, oil, timber and a whole lot of resources, yet, the country is underdeveloped, compared with those countries which became independent after Ghana”, he added.

Mr Kwasi Korang, a 23-year-old barber was however of a different view, saying, Ghana would have been another South Africa on the African continent to have suffered the obnoxious “Apartheid", (racial discrimination), if Dr Nkrumah had not gotten independence for the country.