Edward Doe Adjaho, Speaker of ParliamentMembers of Parliament last Friday paid tribute to Ghana’s second Prime Minister, Prof. Kofi Abrefa Busia, describing him as “a colossus of a man”.
Contributing to a statement by the member for Wenchi, Prof. George Yaw Gyan-Baffuor (NPP), to mark the centenary of Prof. Busia, who was head of government during Ghana’s Second Republic, the MPs said he was a simple, humble, humane, tolerant and a “pragmatically nationalistic” man who loved humanity and advocated peaceful co-existence.
Members of both sides of the House, with the choicest of words, showed their admiration for and approval of Prof. Busia, whose government was overthrown by Col Ignatius Kutu Acheampong, on January 13, 1972 after only 27 months in office.
The member for North Tongu, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, however, appeared to have a slightly different view of Prof. Busia, and described his time in power as a period of “ethnocentrism”, “strife” and “conflict”, adding that many Ghanaians became casualties of Busia’s style of governance and policies.
While eulogising Busia, he said, the House needed to soberly reflect on his time in power and take the necessary steps to ensure a new type of politics.
That statement brought the member for Old Tafo, Dr Anthony Akoto Osei (NPP) , to his feet.
He said Mr Ablakwa’s comments and his description of the Busia era in those terms were likely to generate debate and lead the House onto another path.
The Speaker, Mr Edward Doe Adjaho, quickly intervened and urged Mr Ablakwa to limit his comments to the statement made by the member for Wenchi and the personality of Prof. Busia.
That ruling appeared to have left Mr Ablakwa deflated, and made him abandon that line of comment.
Prof. Busia was born on July 11, 1913 at Wenchi in the Brong Ahafo Region.
He attended Wenchi Methodist Primary School, Mfantsipim School in Cape Coast, Wesley College in Kumasi, Achimota College and the University of London.
He obtained his PhD in Social Anthropology in 1947.
As a teacher, Busia was appointed lecturer, indeed, the first African lecturer at the University College of the Gold Coast in 1949. In 1954, he was appointed the first African Professor and Chair of the Department of Sociology.
Between 1964 and 1966, he was Professor of Sociology and a Senior Member of St Anthony College, Oxford, England.
He became Prime Minister in 1969 following the general election organised under the auspices of the National Liberation Council (NLC) government.
While in London for a medical check-up, a colonel of the Ghana Armed Forces, Kutu Acheampong, announced his overthrow.
He died on August 28, 1978 while in exile.
The member for Sekondi, Papa Owusu Ankomah (NPP), said he was proud to share a political tradition with Prof. Busia.
He described Prof. Busia as an “intellectual giant” who was deeply religious and had absolute faith in democracy.
The member for Banda, Ahmed Ibrahim (NDC), said Prof. Busia helped to address the problem of shortage of teachers in the country by introducing the National Service Scheme.
He said a national monument needed to be erected in his honour.
Dr Richard Anane (NPP,Nhyiaeso) said Prof. Busia laced democracy with pragmatism.
He said he implemented his free enterprise policies with strategies to mitigate the suffering of the people.
According to him, Busia was a pacifist hence, his call for dialogue with Apartheid South Africa, a call which earned him criticism and ridicule.
Mr Cletus Avoka (NDC, Zebilla) said he encountered Prof. Busia in 1968 when he (Avoka) was a student in Navrongo Secondary School and was convinced that he possessed great intellect and could become the leader of Ghana.
He was glad that Prof. Busia abandoned his long held idea of federalism for Ghana when he became Prime Minister.
Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto (NPP, Kwadaso) said at a time when the one party system was the standard on the African continent, Prof. Busia stood for multi-party democracy.
The member for Essikado/Ketan, Mr Joe Ghartey (NPP), said God revealed his glory in Prof. Busia .
The Minority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu (NPP, Suame) said the nation should celebrate the achievements of not only Prof. Busia, but Kwame Nkrumah, Hilla Limann, Jerry Rawlings, J.A Kufuor and the late Prof. J.E.A Mills, and added that although they might have done some negative things whiles in office, they had contributed their quota to national development.
The Big Six of the national independence struggle, he said, needed to be acknowledged as well.
The leader of Government Business in Parliament, Dr Benjamin Bewa-Nyog Kunbuor (NDC, Nandom) described Prof. Busia as an “icon of culture” and perhaps the best “cultural intellectual” Ghana had ever produced.
He said Busia’s rural development policies had remained a blueprint for governments after his death.
By Mark-Anthony Vinorkor/Daily Graphic/Ghana