Live transmission of the much anticipated 66th Independence Anniversary celebrations in the Volta Region was halted following a fire outbreak at the Volta Star Radio.
Though engineers tried their best to restore the live transmission of the event, the station continued to suffer intermittent interruptions.
The station operated by state-owned Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) was responsible for feeding television and radio stations nationwide with live broadcast of the national event.
The fire specifically gutted the station’s TV transmitter unit on Monday morning.
“There was a fault which we worked on yesterday (Sunday), and this morning the stored battery from the solar system caught fire,” Eng. Benard Towoe Head of Engineering and Transmission told journalists.
According to him, he received a call from the security on duty that the transmitter was on fire at about 9:30am.
Personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service had a hectic time in quenching the fire after exhausting every available fire fighting tool. What worsened the situation was the fact that there was no fire hydrant near the radio station where the incident happened.
“It is unfortunate it is happening on such a day,” he bemoaned.
The 6th March national independence parade which is being held for the first time in the Volta Region was co-hosted by Ho, the Volta Regional capital, with the Adaklu District at the Volta Regional Youth Resource Centre at Adaklu.
This year’s event is on the theme: “Our Unity, Our Strength, Our Purpose”.
President Umaro Sissoco Embaló of Guinea Bissau, who is also the Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), is the Special Guest of Honour.
More than 5,000 people from across the country, including members of the diplomatic corps, the clergy, traditional rulers and other dignitaries participated in the event.
A total of 22 contingents from the various security agencies and 12 from the various schools in the Volta Region were on parade, aside other performances. The 66 Artillery Regiment in Ho was in charge of the march past.
In 2017, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo decided the independence celebration be held on rotational basis to open the regions to the world to boost the local economy.
