YILO KROBO MARKS FIRST EVER MODERATE INDEPENDENCE DAY.

As Ghana marks its 68th Independence Day on 6th March 2025, the President of the Republic, H.E John Dramani Mahama prior to the celebration directed that this year’s National celebration was not going to be observed in the flamboyant way that had been the practice in the past, neither was the celebration going to see the regional rotation as a policy introduced by the immediate past government.
This directive by the President was also occasioned by the economic difficulty the country finds itself in at the moment as the President emphasized during his maiden State of the Nation Address on the 27th of February 2025, that Ghana currently in serious economic situation and as a result, things must be done differently.
The directive by the President to observe the 68th Independence Anniversary moderately to cut down cost was also to be carried at the district levels where Districts were to choose between a moderate match past or quiz to be conducted for students and to be moderated by the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE). The Yilo Krobo was not left out, and in her case a match past was preferred to the quiz.
Though thirty three (33) schools were involved with school cadet contingent drawn from four (4) schools in a match past in the Yilo Krobo Municipality, it was obvious that the event did not come with the usual relatively huge expenditure as was the case in the past. This could be perceived on spur of the moment, if one had ever observed past events.
Currently, the various District Assemblies are not having substantive Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) and Yilo Krobo was not exception, and though Coordinating Directors were to act as MMDCEs, in the case of Yilo Krobo, there was no substantive Coordinator Director at post as a result of the immediate past one having gone on retirement in December 2024 and yet to be replaced. Consequently, the Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Hon. Albert Nyakotey represented the President and was the reviewing officer for the occasion.
In his brief address, and reflecting on the theme for the 68th Independence Anniversary “Reflect, Review and Reset”, Hon. Nyakotey intimated that after 68 years of Independence, we should be able to pause as a nation and reflect, take stocks of how the journey had been to identify those things that we had done wrong and by that review, we should be able to take the right path to reset Ghana to become the country that we all want. Hon. Nyakotey eulogized and paid tributes to past leaders who contributed to the building of the nation Ghana to this point especially those who fought hard to gain us the Independence we enjoy today and urged the present generation to do their part through the reset agenda being pursued by the President, H.E John Dramani Mahama, to positively build on what had been achieved.
The theme for the Anniversary was therefore a call on the Ghanaians to journey the path of serious introspection and deliberate conscious efforts to change direction.
Interacting with some members of the public about their view on the President’s decision to celebrate this year’s Independence Anniversary moderately, they thought it was a good thing especially given the economic challenges the country finds itself in at the moment. Some of them were however quick to add, that the money saved from this year’s celebration as compared to the last year’s as reported, should be used for some tangible development to point to in the future.
The occasion was also graced by some traditional rulers, the security, some Heads of Departments (HODs) in the Yilo Krobo Municipality, members of the governing NDC party and the general public.