But by the time the Founder's Day celebration proceeded, the rain had stopped, the sky lightened, and the sun come out - like an omen in honour of the man to who the country owes its independence.
Thanks to the commitment of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and the Convention People's Party (CPP), party members, young people, farmers, and veterans who were fighting with him, Ghana became independent from the United Kingdom on 6th March 1957.
Nkrumah became the first President and first Prime Minister of the Republic. Furthermore, he was a founding member of the Organisation of African Unity. 21st September, the birthday of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, has been declared a public holiday, to immortalise the Founder of the Republic of Ghana.
The opening prayers - traditional, Christian and Islamic - already typified an important point of the day: Ghana consists of people with different religions and from different ethnics, but all these people live together in peace and freedom. Ghana is a place which shows that it is possible to be united in diversity.
John Tia Akologu, Minister of Information, noted in his speech that it was the vision of the first President to reach this height, not only for Ghana, but for the whole of Africa, quoting the famous statement of Nkrumah: "The independence of Ghana is meaningless, unless it is linked up with the total liberation of Africa."
Today, this dream has become true; all African countries are free from colonial rule.
The Vice President of Ghana, H. E. John Dramani Mahama, pointed out that the continent now is indeed politically liberated, but still far away from the dream of Nkrumah of being united. He claimed that we need to "take down the artificial borders that divide us" to advance economic cooperation, free trade and free movement between the countries.
He emphasised that Africa as "one continent with one destiny" has to find solutions for development on its own. Also the former President of South Africa, H. E. Thabo Mbeki, held that Africa's conflict should be solved by Africans. He was the second after-apartheid President of South Africa, created employment in the middle sectors of the economy, and oversaw a fast-growing black middle class.
Furthermore, he has mediated in complex issues on the African continent, including Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Ivory Coast, and some important peace agreements.
He called Nkrumah "not only a leader of Ghana, but indeed, a leader of all the people of Africa," and "a base for the total liberation of our continent."
But, he also reminded that the continent was still far away from liberation of poverty, of underdevelopment and of backwardness. To achieve this, he inspired the people: "The slogan 'Africa must unite' must continue to resound in our ears."
Full of passion was the speech of Samia Nkrumah, third child of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. She welcomed the fact that the African Union (AU) also adopted the centenary birthday celebration of her father as a continental event, as a testimony of his visions.
The chairperson of the CCP encouraged the people to be confident of getting developed, reaching economical growth, and of controlling Ghana's resources effectively.
"Freedom now!" shouted Ms. Nkrumah, similar to her father, and included by this freedom of anxiety about hunger, access to education or unemployment.
After their speeches, the Guests of Honour, among them also the former President of Ghana, John Agyekum Kufuor, and the former President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Horst Köhler, who is currently in Ghana for the launch of the John A. Kufuor Foundation, laid wreaths at the Monument of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, after which they visited the tomb of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.
Party members of the CPP were dancing around it and singing: "Yes! Yes! Never say no!"