The administration of President John Dramani Mahama will scale down this year’s Independence Day celebration, moving the parade to the seat of government, Jubilee House, as a cost-cutting measure.

Addressing the media, Minister of State for Government Communications Felix Kwakye Ofosu stated that the regional rotational celebration has been paused, as the 2023 event cost the country GH¢15 million.

He emphasised that the government is committed to prudent spending while delivering on its core mandate.

According to him, although the event used to be celebrated mainly in the national capital, in the last few years, there has been an effort to rotate the celebrations amongst various regional capitals.

"Whereas the intentions may be noble, President Mahama has asked that the rotational policy be suspended because of the need to scale down, and this has become necessary due to escalating costs. It has been discovered after some review that the rotation imposed additional cost, and therefore, at a time when our national budget is severely constrained due to economic difficulties, it was not going to be sustainable to keep rotating the national celebrations."

Indeed, if I were to put figures on how much it costs, you would find out that depending on where the celebrations are sent, there are significant cost implications. For instance, the last celebrations held in Ho cost the country a staggering GHS15 million, and every time it has been sent to a different regional capital aside from Accra, we've had to bear such cost.

"In the spirit of cutting down on non-essential expenditure, President Mahama has instructed that this rotational policy be suspended. In addition to this, the main celebration, which ordinarily would have taken place in Accra at Independence Square, has become the subject of some rollback.

He said although the President values the celebration as a significant part of the country's history, he's minded by the current economic challenges and other pressing needs to re-prioritise government expenditure.

"He believes that it is entirely possible to hold a modest but significant event to mark this important occasion without breaking the national purse.