A flag raising took place at City Hall to celebrate Ghana's 68th independence day
Ghana flag raising

Ghana’s independence day celebrated with City hall flag raising

Mar 6, 2025 | 4:04 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – To celebrate Ghana’s 68th independence day, the City of Prince George and the Ghanaian Society of Prince George held a flag raising ceremony at City Hall.

“This is very big because this is the very first time it’s been done here for us. It tells us that the Ghanaian population here is growing, and we are also excited about the fact that Prince George is welcoming and willing to be able to integrate us into the society to the extent that they’re willing to work with us and have a flag raising ceremony,” said Jacob Madjitey, a spokesperson for the Ghanaian Society.

“Each time when we celebrate each others culture, tradition, and history, that gives each other an opportunity to get together, to learn from each other. And Prince George would be a much better, stronger city because of that,” Mayor Simon Yu said.

Madjitey says there are around 50 families and upwards of 200 Ghanians living in Prince George, although the number could possibly be higher. While he, and the many Ghanians in attendance, were happy to see their culture and country represented through the flag raising, Madjitey says Ghanians have been here for decades, so the cultural presence isn’t entirely new.

“Quesnel is a place where there used to be a Ghanaian nurse there, she was there long before I came to Prince George, and I came to Prince George in 1992. They were here in the 80’s, so the north has had a Ghanaian presence for a while. It’s just of late, I would say the last decade, that the numbers have actually started growing,” he said.

Part of the ceremony included the Ghanaian Society gifting the Mayor and the City an Adinkra, which are symbols from Ghana’s culture representing many things. The one gifted to the City is meant to represent the tongue and teeth, according to Madjitey.

“Together, the teeth and the tongue in your mouth helps you with your communication and your eating. So basically, it’s a sign of unity that even though they are different parts, they belong to one place and they allow you to,function as an individual, and also, symbolically, if we do that, we function well as a society,” Madjitey said when explaining the meaning of the gift.

“This kind of thing, the gift exchange and whatnot, it just brings the community together as one people, so everybody will feel Prince George is a home,” Yu said.

Yu added Prince George has more than 60 nationalities living in Prince George, and the chance to celebrate our community’s diversity is always special.

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