There are approximately thirteen nationally recognized public holidays in Ghana, a sub-Saharan country in Africa. The primary National holiday is Independence Day, which is on 6 March. It is a National Day and is set to honor the memory of Ghana's independence from the United Kingdom in 1957.[1]

This is a list of public holidays in Ghana.

National holidays

Date English name Description
1 January New Year's Day
7 January Constitution Day Constitution of 1992 and Fourth Republic 1993.[2]
6 March Independence Day Dominion of Ghana established within the Commonwealth of Nations in 1957.[3]
Friday before Easter Good Friday Crucifixion of Jesus
Monday after Easter Easter Monday
1 May May Day Worker's Day
1 Shawwal Eid al-Fitr Festival of Breaking the Fast
10 Dhu al-Hijjah Eid al-Adha Feast of the Sacrifice
4 August Founders' Day Honors The Big Six who worked for Ghana's independence.[4]
21 September Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Day Birthday of Nkrumah, first prime minister (1957-1960) and first president (1960-1966) of Ghana
First Friday in December Farmers' Day Recognizes farmers and fishermen.[5]
December 25 Christmas Day Birth of Jesus
December 26 Boxing Day

Notes

  1. Introduced by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, National Farmers' Day was organized as a day’s activity for the nation to honor its hard working farmers, with certificates and prizes, who excelled in their contributions to improve the agricultural sector. In 1988, the first Friday of every December was designated by the government as Farmers' Day and is celebrated as a statutory Public Holiday.[6][7]
  2. With the exception of Farmers' Day which is always on a Friday, when these dates fall at the weekend, the following Monday tends to be declared a holiday.
  3. Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Day is celebrated in commemoration of the birthday of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the first President of Ghana.[8]
  4. The Constitution Day is a newly designated Public Holiday, which will be observed starting on 7 January 2019.[9]

It is not mandatory that all Ghanaian institutions/organizations recognize public holidays. Institutions/organizations that are exempt include The Ghana National Fire Service, food vendors, some category of hotels, health service providers such as hospitals, dealers in pharmaceutical products etc.

References

  1. ^ "Independence Day in Ghana in 2022". Office Holidays. Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  2. ^ "Constitution Day in Ghana in 2021". Office Holidays. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
  3. ^ "Public Holidays in Ghana". TrueCalendar.com.
  4. ^ "Public holidays in Ghana in 2021". Calendarific. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  5. ^ "Farmers' Day 2020, 2021 and 2022 in Ghana". PublicHolidays.africa. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
  6. ^ "Farmers' Day 2020, 2021 and 2022 in Ghana". PublicHolidays.africa. Retrieved 2020-08-05.
  7. ^ "Farmer's Day in Ghana in 2020". Office Holidays. Retrieved 2020-08-05.
  8. ^ "Today remains Founder's Day - Mahama". www.ghanaweb.com. Retrieved 2019-01-20.
  9. ^ "Holidays in Ghana 2019". goldchestgh.com. Retrieved 2019-01-20.

External links

Ghana articles
Public holidays in Africa
Categories