A colorful parade was held on Tuesday by the armed forces, security services and school children to mark the 55th anniversary of independence of Ghana with President John Evans Atta Mills pledging to ensure peace before, during and after the scheduled general elections in December this year."As a nation, we have no other option but to sustain the peace we are enjoying in order to broaden the frontier of our democracy and development,” the president told the nation after the parade in the independent square. The president saluted the heroes who fought for independence of the West African country, including the founding father, Kwame Nkrumah.The candle that was lit by Kwame Nkrumah continued to glow acrossAfrica and worldwide and it was not surprising that at the last gathering of the African Union last January in Addis Ababa, a magnificent statue of Nkrumah was unveiled at the forecourt of the new AU office building, Mills said. School children joined a 1,200 man-strong contingent from the Ghana Air Force, Army, Navy, the police, fire brigade and others to perform the annual ritual of national salute at the Independence Square.