The Ministry of the Interior has announced that while Tuesday, 1 July 2025 marks Republic Day, the official public holiday will instead be observed nationwide on Friday, 4 July 2025.
A statement issued on Thursday indicated that President John Dramani Mahama made the declaration through an Executive Instrument (E.I), in accordance with Section 2 of the Public Holidays and Commemorative Days Act, 2021 (Act 601).
“The general public is hereby informed that Friday, 4th July 2025 has been declared a Public Holiday and should be observed as such throughout the country,” the statement read.
The announcement follows Parliament’s passage of the Public Holidays and Commemorative Days (Amendment) Bill, 2025 on Wednesday, 25 June. Under the new legislation, 4 August, previously observed as Founders’ Day, has been removed from the national holiday calendar.
In its place, 21 September— the birthday of Ghana’s first President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah— has been reinstated as the official Founders’ Day.
Presenting the amendment in Parliament, Interior Minister Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak explained the rationale behind the changes, stating:
“We’ve taken out the 4th August as then been termed as Founders’ Day because we believe that as a country, we are not unanimous around it and it serves as a divisive day for us as Ghanaians. So we’ve taken that out and we have maintained the 21st September and now we term that as the Founders’ Day, which is the birthday of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the founder of our country, the one who led us into independence.”
The amendment also designates 1 July as a full public holiday to commemorate Republic Day, marking Ghana’s transition to a republic in 1960.
With the changes now in effect, the Ministry has urged the public and institutions to take note of the revised holiday schedule and observe the upcoming Republic Day holiday accordingly.
