Ghana is 69 years old today.

To mark the day, a parade will be held at the forecourt of the Jubilee House.

The ceremony is being held under the theme, “Building Prosperity, Restoring Hope.”

It will be attended by Ministers of state, members of the diplomatic corps and invited members of the general public.

There will be a parade of military personnel, and the reviewing officer will be the Commander in Chief, President John Dramani Mahama.

The Special Guest of Honour is the Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis, Dr Terrance Michael Drew.

Speaking in an interview, the Government Spokesperson, Felix Kwakye Ofosu said all is set for the occasion.

He also touched on the decision to scale down the celebration from the previous pump and pageantry.

“It is to save cost,” he explained.

It is recalled that the 68th Independence anniversary was marked at the Jubilee House, a departure from the elaborate parade involving hundreds of school children in the preceding years.

Mr Ofosu Kwakye said, “previous parades cost the nation GHC20m. We have decided to save money and use it for other pressing national issues.”

When asked how much this year’s ceremony would cost the taxpayer, the Government Spokesperson responded, “it will cost 95% less than the previous cost…And that amounts to about GHC1.5m.”

Mr Ofosu noted that “69 years of nationhood is a very significant achievement”, thus worth celebrating. Hence, the decision to celebrate but, in a modest manner.

“… over the years, we have had our ups and downs as a country, but by and large we have managed to hold ourselves together. We’ve built a nation that is inclusive, where there is religious and social tolerance,” he said.

According to Mr Ofosu, “even if we’ve had setbacks, we’ve also made incremental progress. Since the advent of this government, a lot has been done to improve the economy. The economy is in much better shape than it was before.”