Parliament has approved the Public Holidays and Commemorative Days (Amendment) Bill, 2025, introducing key changes to Ghana’s holiday calendar.
The newly passed legislation restores July 1 as Republic Day, formally recognising the country’s transition to a republic in 1960 and also introduces a new public holiday for the Muslim community, known as Shaqq Day, to be observed a day after Eid-ul-Fitr, repeals August 4 as Founders’ Day and reinstates September 21 as Founder’s Day, in honour of Dr Kwame Nkrumah.
Additionally, the bill empowers the President to shift public holidays that fall on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, or Thursdays to either the following Friday or preceding Monday, to improve national productivity and scheduling flexibility.
Moving the motion, the Minister for the Interior, Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak,
said the government had looked at the number of holidays and in line with some of the promises it made with regards to the holidays had restructured the holidays to take away those that were controversial and those “we are unanimous and rallied around”.
He said the government would keep January 1 as New Year’s Day, January 7 as Constitutional Day, March 6 as Independence Day, March or April for Good Friday for Christians, March or April as Easter Monday for Christians, May 1 as Labour Day and July 1 as Republic Day.
He said the government believed that the July 1 commemorative day was a very significant day in the life of Ghana and “therefore bringing it back as a full holiday, we believe that as a country we are united around July 1.”
The purpose of this adjustment is to extend weekends and possibly increase productivity, saying some holidays happen in the middle of the week on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, which caused workers to take such days for granted.
“This lowers productivity and what we intend to do with this amendment is simply to say that if a holiday falls in the middle of the week, that is Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, it should be observed on a Friday, if it falls on Saturday and Sunday, it should be observed on Monday so that there will be some certainty and give us longevity in the weekend,” he said.
The First Deputy Speaker, Bernard Ahiafor, declaring the bill passed, said “The amended holiday framework is expected to spark fresh public discourse on national identity, religious inclusivity, and the politics of remembrance.
He said the first Friday in December will be celebrated as Farmers’ Day and December 25 as Christmas Day for Christians.
But the Minority in Parliament opposed the Majority’s move to fast-track the bill under a certificate of urgency, arguing that there were more important national issues to be attended to.
Despite their opposition, Parliament eventually passed the Public Holidays and Commemorative Days (Amendment) Bill, 2025.
BY LAWRENCE VOMAFA-AKPALU
