Ghana's Founder's Day 2026: Ministry Declares September 21 a Public Holiday

• The Ministry of the Interior has officially declared Monday, 21 September 2026 as a statutory public holiday for Founder's Day
• The declaration was signed by Interior Minister Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak and applies across the entire country
• The Ministry urged all members of the public to make the necessary arrangements ahead of the holiday

The Ministry of the Interior has confirmed that Monday, 21 September 2026, will be observed as a public holiday in commemoration of Founder's Day.

The announcement came through an official statement signed by the Minister for the Interior, Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak, who directed that the holiday be observed throughout the country.

The Ministry's statement made clear that the public holiday applies across all regions of Ghana, with authorities calling on citizens and businesses to take note of the date and plan accordingly.

"The general public is urged to take note of the declaration and make the necessary arrangements ahead of the holiday," the statement read.

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Founder's Day is one of Ghana's recognised statutory public holidays, observed annually to honour the country's founding leadership.

New holiday regime in Ghana

In June 2025, Parliament passed the Public Holidays and Commemorative Days which returned July 1’s Republic Day to statutory holiday status.

It also made Shaqq Day a statutory public holiday, which is observed a day after the Eid al-Fitr celebration by Muslims.

The bill also removed August 4 as Founders' Day and reinstated September 21, which is the birthday of Ghana's first president, Kwame Nkrumah, as Founders' Day.

Controversy around August 4 holiday

Parliament, under the Nana Akufo-Addo administration, approved August 4 as a Statutory Holiday in 2019, and it was first celebrated in 2021.

August 4 was instituted to honour the various heroes and heroines who contributed to the independence struggle though it was criticised as a partisan effort spotlighting icons of the New Patriotic Party political tradition.

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Critics also described August 4 as the then-President Akufo-Addo's attempt to exalt his family members, who had been part of the country’s independence struggle, and to undermine Nkrumah.

The president’s family members, like J.B. Danquah, William Ofori-Atta and others, are also infamously remembered for their opposition to Nkrumah and his independence struggle.

Other public holiday changes

YEN.com.gh reported that another major change in the bill empowers the President to shift public holidays that fall on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, or Thursdays to either the following Friday or the preceding Monday, to improve national productivity and scheduling flexibility.

The bill was passed under a certificate of urgency after being presented by the Minister of the Interior on June 24, 2025, after the Committee on Defence and Interior and the leadership of the Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs deemed this as urgent.

Source: YEN.com.gh