The Ministry of Interior has announced that Monday, September 23, 2024, will be observed as a statutory public holiday in honour of Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Day, which commemorates the birthday of Ghana’s first president, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.
Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Day is an annual event marking the birth of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, born on September 21, 1909, in Nkroful, near Axim, in the Nzema East Municipality of Ghana’s Western Region.
This year marks what would have been his 115th birthday. Though his birthday falls on September 21, the holiday has been moved to Monday since the date falls on a Saturday this year.
In a statement released on September 19, 2024, the Minister for the Interior, Henry Quartey, called on Ghanaians to observe the holiday nationwide.
“In view of the fact that 21st September 2024 falls on a Saturday, His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Ghana, has by Executive Instrument (E.I.), in accordance with Section 2 of the Public Holidays and Commemorative Days Act (Act 601), declared Monday, 23rd September 2024, as an additional Public Holiday, to be observed across the country,” the statement read.
This public holiday originates from the New Public Holidays Act of 2018, which amended the Public Holidays Act of 2001.