Major adjustments to Ghana’s official holiday schedule have been announced by Interior Minister Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak.
The Public Holidays and Commemorative Days (Amendment) Bill, 2025 was presented to Parliament by the government through the Interior Ministry.
The proposed law aimed to move the contentious Founder’s Day celebration back to September 21 and declare July 1 a new national holiday.
One piece of good news for employees is that the law calls for moving all midweek holidays that fall on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, or Thursdays to Fridays.
“Mr. Speaker, we are keeping 1st January as New Year Day, 7th January as Constitutional Day, 6th March as Independence Day, March or April for Good Friday for our Christian brothers, March or April as Easter Monday for our Christian brothers, 1st May as Labour Day, 1st July as Republic Day. It was pushed to commemorate it. We believe that this is a very significant day in the life of Ghana that we should not just relegate to the background and therefore we are bringing it back as a full holiday and we believe that as a country we are united around the 1st July,” the Minister said.
The purpose of this adjustment is to extend weekends and possibly increase productivity.
But the Minority in Parliament opposed the Majority’s move to fast-track the bill under a certificate of urgency, arguing that the are more important national issues to be attended to.
Despite their opposition, Parliament eventually passed the Public Holidays and Commemorative Days (Amendment) Bill, 2025.
