As Ghana approaches another 1st July, statesman and founding member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe, has issued a passionate call for the protection and restoration of Republic Day, warning against attempts to distort or diminish its significance in the nation’s collective memory.
In a strongly worded statement released to the press on Thursday, June 12, 2025, Dr Nyaho-Tamakloe, underscored the historical and constitutional weight of 1st July, describing it as the day Ghana truly attained full independence by becoming a republic in 1960.
“A nation that forgets its foundational moments cannot build a coherent future,” he stated, urging Ghanaians not to lose sight of what he called “the true birth” of the nation.
While, Ghana gained independence from British colonial rule on 6th March 1957, Dr Nyaho-Tamakloe, a former military officer, pointed out that the country remained a dominion of the British Crown, recognising Queen Elizabeth II as Head of State and operating under a constitutional monarchy.
This changed on 1st July 1960, following a national referendum in April of that year, when Ghanaians voted overwhelmingly to adopt a republican constitution. Dr Kwame Nkrumah was subsequently sworn in as the country’s first President. “From that day forward, Ghana gained full sovereignty over its domestic and foreign affairs,” Dr Nyaho-Tamakloe noted.
He emphasised that republican status allowed Ghana to assert control over critical national matters such as defence, education, and governance, paving the way for key developments, including the full Ghanaian command of the Ministry of Defence, the expansion of the Ghana Armed Forces, and the prioritisation of tertiary institutions like KNUST, the University of Cape Coast, and the Ghana School of Law.
Dr Nyaho-Tamakloe’s intervention comes in the wake of the controversial Public Holidays (Amendment) Act, 2019 (Act 989), introduced under President Nana Akufo-Addo’s administration.
The legislation abolished Republic Day as a public holiday, replacing it with 4th August (Founders’ Day), to honour the founding of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC), and 21st September (Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Day), to mark Nkrumah’s birthday.
While the government argued that 4th August better represents the collective origins of Ghana’s independence movement, Dr Nyaho-Tamakloe criticised this rationale as a dangerous dilution of the constitutional milestone that 1st July represents. He warned that reducing Republic Day to a mere “Day of Prayer and Thanksgiving” was not only inappropriate, but risked erasing the very essence of Ghana’s full sovereignty.
“This is not a religious day. It is not a partisan day. It is the day our republic was born,” he declared.
“To turn it into something else — or to ignore it altogether — is to commit historical sacrilege.”
Dr Nyaho-Tamakloe concluded his statement by rallying citizens, institutions, and political leaders to protect Republic Day’s legacy.
He urged Parliament to revisit and restore 1st July as a statutory public holiday, calling on educational institutions to teach the full history of Ghana’s republican journey.
He appealed to the media to keep the memory of Republic Day alive in public discourse and encouraged the youth to embrace and defend the truth of Ghana’s past.
Dr Nyaho-Tamakloe also demanded that all present and future governments prioritise national history over partisan convenience.
“If we fail to defend Republic Day, we betray the very ideals of independence and self-determination,” he warned.
His statement reopens the national debate on how Ghana remembers its past, and whether the current holiday calendar reflects the true spirit of the country’s constitutional evolution.
Dr Nyaho-Tamakloe, served as President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) from 2001 to 2005 and as Ghana’s Ambassador to Serbia and Montenegro from 2005 to 2009.
