Government declares September 22nd a public holiday for Founder’s Day

The Ministry of the Interior has officially declared Monday, September 22, 2025, a public holiday in observance of this year’s Founder’s Day.

Founder’s Day, which commemorates the birthday of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, falls on Sunday, September 21, 2025.

In line with the law, when a statutory holiday falls on a weekend, the President may designate the following Monday as the observed holiday.

In a statement signed by the Minister for the Interior, Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak, the ministry announced that President John Dramani Mahama had, by Executive Instrument, directed that the holiday be observed nationwide in accordance with the Public Holidays and Commemorative Days Act, as amended.

The general public is hereby informed that Sunday, 21st September 2025, marks Founder's Day, which is a statutory public holiday. However, in view of the fact that 21st September 2025 falls on a Sunday, His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Ghana, has, by Executive Instrument (E.I.), in accordance with Section 2 of the Public Holidays and Commemorative Days Act (Act 601), as amended, declared Monday, 22nd September 2025, as an Additional Public Holiday and should be observed as such throughout the country.

The declaration follows the 2025 amendment to the Act, which revised how public holidays are rescheduled. Under the amendment, any statutory holiday that falls on a Saturday or Sunday is moved to the following Monday.
Earlier this year, Parliament also approved significant changes to Ghana’s holiday calendar.

These included reinstating July 1 as Republic Day, introducing a new “Shaqq Day” after Eid-ul-Fitr, removing August 4 as Founders’ Day, and restoring September 21, Nkrumah’s birthday, as Founder’s Day.