Independence Day

On the 6th of March 1957, after years under British colonial rule, Ghana – known as the Gold Coast – became the first Sub-Saharan African State to achieve independence.

Every year this special day is celebrated and remembered throughout Ghana. For school-going children the highlight is the marching-competition which is held at in each District Capital in Ghana. This year, on the 6th, early in the morning we left for the Jubilee Park in Tamale where the occasion was being held to secure ourselves a seat on one of the bleachers. It did not take long before the whole Park filled up with school children in their smartest uniforms. As the roads in Ghana are so dusty, especially at this time of the year during the dry season, many of the students put on their white socks once they arrive at the Park as appearance counts just as much as the way they march. The military and police were also present to show off their skills.

Accompanied by a brass band, the students, military and police marched around the square. It looked just like a big ant colony and even with the enormous number of participants everything was so orderly.

However, the parade was more than just a competition. The independence of Ghana did not come without difficulty. In the early years there were a series of coups, power struggles and tensions, but gradually Ghana has grown to be a stable democracy. The students are proud of their motherland and they show it in the way they come together on a day such as the 6th of March. With hope and expectation they join in the national anthem, ‘God bless our homeland Ghana, And make our nation great and strong …. Raise high the flag of Ghana … Black star of hope and honour.’

As participants as well as spectators spent many hours on the square, the gathering also attracted traders to make sure that nobody would have to go hungry or thirsty. From a distance we observed the variety of goods which were passing by. Everything from candies to bottles of drinks, from handkerchiefs and pens to meat pies, from bags of water to boiled eggs, from ice cream to avocados and also a tower of biscuits was available.