Jemima A.K Mensah, the Ga East Municipal Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), has advised children to imbibe good values that can promote social cohesion and national development.

She also reminded the children of their civic responsibilities and how they could contribute to building a strong, vibrant, and democratic country.

Mrs Mensah gave the advice when the staff of the NCCE visited some basic schools in the municipality to inculcate into the pupils the values of citizenship to mark the Citizenship Week celebration.

The NCCE introduced the Citizenship Week in 2012 as part of the annual Constitution Week celebration, which was instituted in 2001 to regularly remind the citizens of the processes that led the country to return to constitutional democracy.

The Citizenship Week, which commenced on May 26 ended on June 2, 2021, in selected schools within the Municipality was on the theme: “We Are One, Ghana First”.

She said “the Citizenship Week is celebrated under this theme to call on all citizens both young and old to put Ghana first in everything that we do.

“The theme is also premised on our quest to instill and promote unity and national cohesion among the Ghanaian citizenry as enshrined in Article 35(5) of the Constitution”.

It added that the children were encouraged to uphold the Ghanaian values, which included nationalism, patriotism, hard work, and strong self-help spirit at home, community, and school; pride in traditional values, sincerity, justice and fairness, and Respect for national symbols and institutions such as the Ghana Flag and National Anthem among others.

Mrs Mensah also reminded the general citizenry of their national values and responsibilities as enshrined in the 1992 Constitution.

She mentioned some of the citizens' responsibilities as participating in national assignments, such as immunisation exercise, reporting and shunning crime in all its forms, respecting the rights of others, protecting public property, protecting and safeguarding the environment, and contributing to the well-being of the community.

She urged the general public to be disciplined and contribute to the development of the country, saying, “We are one nation, one people with a common destiny, and we are one in building our motherland”.

The NCCE was established by the 1992 Constitution as an independent governance institution with the mandate of providing civic education to all Ghanaians and working towards sustaining Ghana’s democracy.