Tomorrow [Friday], November 4, is not a Public Holiday, the Ministry of the Interior has clarified after conflicting reports emerged on Thursday.
The Interior Ministry had announced in a statement that, Friday, November 4, would be National Farmers Day, but will not be observed as a Public Holiday, noting that, December 2, will remain the Public Holiday, despite the Farmers Day celebration being brought forward.
[contextly_sidebar id=”K4ad4XLrFEm6PdDnpS4I5fk2eYCbYU3V”]The first Friday in December is normally earmarked as the Farmers Day holiday, but the ceremony accompanying the event has been brought forward to November 4 because of the December 7 elections.
Despite the earlier statement, the Deputy Minister of Interior, James Agalga, said on Accra-based Starr FM that tomorrow [Friday], would be a holiday.
Mr. Agalga’s comments, coupled with the circulation of conflicting statements from the Interior Ministry regarding the holiday, led to some confusion in the public domain.
But in an interview with Citi News, the Deputy Minister corrected the impression and confirmed that tomorrow [Friday], November 4, is not a holiday.
Mr. Agalga noted that, “the holiday as provided for in the statutes falls on 2nd December so come 2nd December, the holiday will be observed. But for tomorrow, we are only going to mark the Farmers Day celebration and the activities that will accompany it.”
He also explained that, the holiday could not be brought forward with the celebrations because some legislation would have to be amended to make that possible.
“It is a question of law, the Public Holiday Act. If you look at the schedule, 2nd December is captured therein as the Farmer’s Day holiday. You would have to amend the law and legislation, and going through the parliamentary procedure will not be easy so we leave it the way it is,” Mr. Agalga stated.
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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana