GHA NA @ 62
W
ith 62 years on the board, Ghana has bags of past events to look back on. For as far back as any Ghanaian’s memory can travel, the independence anniversary has been synonymous with holiday, Black Star Square and parades. Accra, the capital, takes center stage and the entire world becomes an audience. However, this year’s independence anniversary celebration saw an unprecedented move of the
independence tradition to Tamale, the Northern Region of Ghana. Although an unpopular opinion, the independence day anniversary in Ghana has lost a bit of the luster originally associated with it simply because of the predictability of events surrounding the celebrations each year. Hence, this shake-up was very much warranted. What was a customary hot and dry day in the north did nothing to suppress the sheer joy celebrants at
the Aliu Mahama Sports Stadium possessed because they were witnessing the first independence anniversary celebrated outside Accra. It was also particularly pleasing to see the spotlight thrown on Tamale, which is an often forgotten gem in Ghana. More so, 2019 has seen the end of a 16-year chieftaincy conflict in the kingdom of Dagbon (in the Northern Region) climaxed with the enskinment of a new chief. What better way cement the peace that www.dameafrica.com 8
