Canada-Wide Celebration Of Ghana

West Africa magazine's Kofi Akosah-Sarpong in Ottawa anchors the 46th celebration of Ghana's independence across Canada From Toronto to Ottawa, from Montreal to Edmonton, and generally across the vast Canadian landmass, Ghanaians came out on March 8 to celebrate the independence of Ghana, amid speeches, traditional jamborees, showcasing of Ghanaian culture, advises, friendship and the general rekindling of the Ghanaian spirit. Across Canada, friends of Ghana, too, attended the 46th Ghana Independence or National Day celebrations. In Toronto, veteran political big-wig and much-experienced Hon. Samuel Odoi-Sykes, Ghana's High Commissioner to Canada, send Accra's warm facilitation to he growing Ghanaian population in Toronto. In Ottawa, the engineer-turned-diplomat Deputy Ghana High Commissioner, Mr. Charles Adjei-Amoama, aroused the Ghanaians to the virtues of community building. In Montreal, the cool-headed Mr. Eric Odoi-Anim, head of chancery at the Ghana High Commission, looked at how the Ghanaian should act in today's global system in relation to Ghana. Hon. Odoi-Sykes run through the issues of management of the national economy, the bank lending rate, the petroleum prices conundrum, President John Kuffour's parliamentary sessional address, freedom of speech and press freedom, remittances by Ghanaian-Canadians to Ghana, the newly Africa-minted development project of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPD), and law and order. Hon. Odoi-Sykes said Accra is grateful for Ghanaian-Canadians remittances of money to their homeland and the government is aware of how it “constitute a significant contribution to the development of the national economy.” In a partisan streak, he compared the ruling National Patriotic Party (NPP)'s record to the former regime of the National Democratic Party (NDC) and spoke about the achievements of the NPP despite “fierce attack mounted against the Kuffour's administration for alleged inefficiency or non-performance.” Still playing the partisan card, Hon. Odoi-Sykes, who chaired the NPP to defeat the NDC in the 2000 elections, thundered that “It is generally acknowledged that the NDC left behind a very difficult and troublesome state of affairs—economically, socially and political to the NPP. Most of the problems which the Kuffour government has been contending with for the past 2 years were inherited from the NDC; or their seeds were planted in the 18 years of the PNDC/NDC era.” Partisan rhetoric aside, Hon. Odoi-Sykes invoked the “supreme sacrifices made by our past national heroes” to debunk the misguided and ill-informed buzz that it is “not worth celebrating Ghana's national day because of the country has nothing to show for the past 46 years.” He said to say this is to “turn one's back” on Ghanaian nation building, an increasingly complex and complicated venture that one should never underestimate or take for granted. In Montreal, Mr. Odoi-Anim, rolled out some sort of four principles that he thinks today's diasporic Ghanaians in the increasingly stressful global system must use as guide. He charged Ghanaian-Canadians to be active participants in the Ghanaian national economy and that no amount of external aid or foreign investment will rescue Ghana from underdevelopment if Ghanaians do not become partners in their own development. He asked Ghanaian-Canadians to sustain the stable environment that sustain at home, and that all ideas and actions within and outside Ghana must be geared towards promoting national unity and stability. He pleaded with Ghanaian-Canadians not to take the freedoms and liberties they are enjoying for granted under the present regime. “We must be guided in our actions and utterances so as not to create unnecessary tribal and political tensions within Ghana and our compatriots outside Ghana.” As a final point, Mr. Odoi-Anim, at a deeper level, said, Ghanaians unique roles and the talents they showed during their hard times at home should be used in a creative way, with God's blessings, as attributes that should bear on them for future development process as they move into the future.

In Ottawa, the Ghanaian youth, who had planned to celebrate the Ghana National Day separately, maturely teamed up the adults to celebrate one of the most successful Ghana Independence Day the city has seen in recent years. The thoughtful Mr. Adjei-Amoama, drawing from his rich years of community development, talked about Ghana attributes of peacefulness and stability in a sub-region mired in internecine civil wars, the laying of the foundations for multiparty structure, the struggle to improve the Ghanaian standard of living and how Ghanaians should take advantage of the Dual Citizenship Law to “participate in all aspects of national life.” He challenged the Ghanaian community to revitalize their association to function fruitfully just as the Vietnamese, the Chinese and the Jews are doing. Dr. Daniel Tetteh Osable-Kle, a former air force officer turned political scientist at the Ottawa-based Carleton University and a former chair of the Ghana Civil Aviation under the PNDC, quoting Psalm 133 and Ghana's first President Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, enjoined Ghanaians everywhere to unite. While telling the cheering Ghanaians to appreciate their culture, especially their native language, Dr. Osabu-Kle suggested that their road to unity, among others, would come from “a database of all Ghanaians in Canada with reliable addresses for information and networking purposes.” He appealed to the High Commission to see to that. “A commitment to help one another and protect one another; a commitment to the needs and aspirations of Mother Ghana and eradication of the Pull Him/Her Down (PHD) spirit and its replacement with PUSH Him/Her Up (PHU) spirit.”

Still in Ottawa, the young-looking Mr. Seth Awuku, an Ottawa-based immigration lawyer who was the Master of Ceremony (MC), asked Ghanaians to reflect about their country, asking Ghanaians to contemplate the legacy of left by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah in their individual and collective struggle for development. The lively Mr. Andy Kusi Appiah, a medical geographer at Health Canada and President of the Ghana Association of Ottawa, said Ghana may have a bright future but that can be propelled only in a united way and that will come by rally around the Ghanaian community. The sweet Dr. Sam Kwofie, an Ottawa-based dentist and a distinguished community member, said while for long he hasn't seen the gathering of Ghanaians of this nature in Ottawa, noted that Ghanaians should be “proud that they have a very healthy government today, a government respected by the people and not the erratic one before…Today you can go to Ghana and conduct your business without fear. We are at the stage of our history when Ghana is about to take off…We've to do our little bit to help the government…God Bless Ghana.” Tribute was paid to Ghanaians who have sustained the community in Ottawa over the years—the good-natured Ms. Yvonne Appiah, CEO of the CODE, a literacy non-government organization that works in eight African countries, Dr. Felix Agyeman, Mr. Jose Aggrey, a socialite, Mr. Peter Nunko, Mr. Ben Agbanti and Mr. Eddie Peprah (key organizers of the Ottawa celebration), the federal civil servant Ms. Pascal Soga, Mrs. Christina Benin and the good-hearted and collection officer Mr. John Evans Ehui, who with Mr. Kusi-Appiah, has the frustrating task of bring the youth and the adults together for the programme.

In an increasingly growing warm partnership between the Ghana High Commission in Ottawa and the numerous Ghanaian associations across Canada, the High Commission celebrated the 46th Ghana independence with various Ghanaian communities, networking here and there, and in some cases helped planned it as happened in Ottawa. The Canada-wide celebration provided a healing for those who have missed home; demonstrated to the growing number of Ghanaians born in Canada and who have yet not being to Ghana what is Ghana; renewed friendship; boosted the moral of those down-and-under and brought those who will normally not meet in any way in life together. In all the cerebrations there were fundraisings to help develop the Ghanaian communities. Over 95 percent of the Ghanaians who attended the celebration wore Ghanaian traditional dresses, over 80 percent of the food served was Ghanaian dishes, and over 98 percent of the music played was Ghanaian. Mr. Michael Arthur, a Ghanaian-Canadian analyst with Treasury Canada, who since he was born in Canada has never been to Ghana, said, “The celebration was a good initiative, we used need to move often to bring the Ghanaians together.” Mr. Prince Akinbayo Oshuntoye, a Nigerian-Canadian who came to celebrate with the celebratory Ghanaians said, “I want the other African communities to emulate what the Ghanaians are doing.” Meanwhile, back from Montreal, Mr. Odoi-Anim told me over telephone in Ottawa that, “The occasion exhibited our commitment to Ghana…Most agreed that there is light at the end of tunnel for Ghana.”

To close the two week National Day celebration in Canada, the Ghana High Commission will be hosting a diplomatic party at Ottawa's Westen Hotel's Confederation Hall on March 14 at 6 pm to 8 pm. Ahead of the diplomatic party, Hon. Odoi-Sykes is expected to tell the diplomatic community, Ottawa, the Canadian media and policy developers and Canadians in general about Ghana's achievements as a peaceful and stable nation working to lay solid foundation for a democratic culture grounded in the human dignity, rule of law, justice and human rights.