CJA To March On Jubilee Day

The Committee for Joint Action (CJA) has planned a procession on the Golden Jubilee Day, March 6, to mark the event.

The “People's Jubilee Procession”, expected to be attended by hundreds of Ghanaians, will begin from the Kwame Nkrumah Circle and end at the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum.

The Convener of the CJA, Mr Kyeretwie Opoku, who announced this at a news conference in Accra on Tuesday, said the planned procession would offer ordinary people who had been excluded from the official celebration the opportunity to celebrate the event.

He said the procession would benefit Ghanaians who wished to commemorate independence as the popular revolutionary event that it was and rededicate themselves to the fundamental political, economic and social transformation of the country.

He said after the procession, members would pay tribute and lay wreaths in honour of Dr Kwame Nkrumah and other fallen heroes of the nation's independence.

Mr Opoku said independence was a political event and that it should be celebrated politically by all political parties, trade unions, market women and farmers, since they struggled to gain the independence.

However, he said, the government had reserved the celebration for the elite, neglected the ordinary people and failed to recognise their contribution to the independence struggle.

“There is hardly any recognition for the hundreds of Ghanaians who struggled and lost their lives in the struggle,” he said.

Touching on the economy, Mr Opoku said Ghana was 30 years behind in terms of socio-economic development as a result of the failings of successive leaders in the country.

He said, for instance, that the living standard of most Ghanaians was poor, while ordinary workers were not part of the decision-making processes.

He expressed worry that Ghana was second behind Sudan as the country with high cases of the guinea worm diseases.

Mr Opoku said the nation's economy was also being controlled by the West who designed and executed most projects in the country.

He said Ghana needed leaders who could transform the economy and revive confidence in their fellow citizens.

Story by Musah Yahaya Jafaru