Scrap AU Day Holiday � Franklin Cudjoe

President of Policy Think Tank IMANI Ghana, Franklin Cudjoe, has questioned the relevance of observing the AU Day as a statutory holiday in Ghana, especially when it falls on a weekend and rolled over into the following week. His reservations follow the declaration of Monday, May 27, 2013 as a statutory holiday in Ghana as a carry-over compensation for this year�s AU Day which fell on a weekend, Saturday, May 25 and thus rendered superfluous. Mr. Cudjoe told XYZ News that the AU Day �is not a holiday in most African countries�, adding that: �Ghana has too many holidays already and we could have used this day positively�. He said: �I really do not understand why we needed this holiday; why we actually instituted it; It will interest you to know that just next door Nigeria is not observing the Day [as a holiday] so it looks as if we are observing a non-event�. Mr. Cudjoe has suggested that the Government of Ghana, in the light of this, takes a critical review of all the statutory holidays in Ghana to get rid of those holidays, which in his view, are not necessary so as to safeguard productivity. He noted: �In the interest of productivity, we probably need to have a re-look at this holiday and a few other holidays that may not necessarily yield anything�. ��This AU Day fell on a weekend, so be it. We shouldn�t extend it to a full working day and then waste it,� Mr. Cudjoe added.