Corporate Ghana Should Sponsor Independence Anniversary Celebrations

Tomorrow Tuesday March 6, 2018 marks the 61st Anniversary of Ghana’s Independence and as has become an annual ritual, the occasion would be observed with an address from the President foreshadowed by a parade by the Ghana Armed Forces, security services and schools.

This has been the routine for several decades and each anniversary has cost the tax payer an arm and a leg.

After each celebration, the debate on the real essence of the expensive celebrations and whether the cost component is worth it pops up but fades off within weeks and as usual, the Ghanaian starts to focus on other issues.

It is factual that the cost of the celebrations expensive to organize. It is also factual that the amount could be used for other developmental projects.

That does not mean, however, that the anniversary celebrations are a waste of time and resources. No, we are not of the group that only knows the cost of everything but the value of nothing.

Ghana’s independence, is of great essence in championing the African liberation struggle. It is a ‘can-do’ story of great inspiration that ought to be told and retold as many times as practically possible.

THE PUBLISHER is of the view that a little ‘thinking outside the box’ could help government raise the resources needed to organize the event from corporate Ghana.

If the concept and proposal is packaged and presented well, it would be the pride of many telecommunication companies, banks and other corporate institutions to want to be the title sponsor of Ghana’s independent anniversary celebrations.

In a country where money is needed to clear filth and distil choked drains, in a country where many hospitals still lack beds and until recently, thousands school going children drop out of school because of inability to pay fees, continuing to use huge sums of money to celebrate such anniversaries is certainly a subject that should not be brushed aside.

In as much as the celebrations are necessary, new innovative ways of funding it should be up for dialogue.

We are not asking Ghana to go the Tanzanian way where President John Magufuli has cancelled the country’s Independence Day celebrations and ordered the funding to be used for a clean-up campaign instead.

We are calling for a celebration that does not become another burden to the tax payer and a drain on government’s already scarce resources.