Every country, and indeed even ethnic groups, provinces and cities, are represented by a flag. When Ghana gained independence, it was crucial for the new country to assert its independence with a new flag, which is still in use today.
One of the first things that people think about when they arrive in a new country is money. Having local currency is key to any international experience, not to mention that many countries are cash economies. Ghana is a cash economy and the local currency is the cedi, which has a bit of an interesting history.
In Ghana, May 25th is a national holiday, with offices closed and a day off from school. It’s called African Unity Day and celebrates the founding of what is now known as the African Union.
You’re in Ghana and you’re at the market. You’ve got all of your produce selected and the maame tells you, “15 cedi.” You open your wallet and pull out a 20 cedi note and see six faces looking back at you. In fact, all of the paper money in your wallet has these same six faces staring out at you. These men are collectively known as Ghana’s Big Six. But who were they and why are they important enough to be on all of the money?
For the past several weeks, every morning there has been drumming coming from the school near my office. Walking through town, the beats waft through the air from various schools and classes are sometimes suspended while the children arrange themselves in rows and practice marching. Ghana’s Independence Day, marking 60 years of freedom from colonial rule, is this coming Monday.
This past Wednesday, September 21 was a holiday across Ghana. Kwame Nkrumah’s birthday is celebrated each year as Founder’s Day in Ghana. He was a main agitator for Ghana’s independence from Britain and elected as Ghana’s first president, but in a global context, he was so much more than that.
This weekend is a three-day weekend, and not because of July 4th, America’s Independence Day. Here in Ghana, today is Republic Day, which is separate and different from Ghana’s Independence Day (March 6).
On this day, in 1960, Kwame Nkrumah was inaugurated as the first president of the first independent Black African nation. But it took some time to get to that point.