Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye
Prominent Ghanaians including Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye, Ministers of state, religious and traditional leaders have eulogised Prof. Kofi Abrefa Busia describing him as a ‘legend whose ideas and policies would never be forgotten in the political history of the country.
Speaking at a symposium to mark the 110th birthday of Prof. Busia in Accra on the theme, “The Relevance of Busia’s ideas to our contemporary Society”, former Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Mike Oquaye described him as a visionary leader, political and academic icon who initiated policies that were still relevant today.
He said one of the greatest tragedies that ever happened to the country was the removal of Busia as the Prime Minister after 27 months in office.
According to him, Prof. Busia also embarked on drastic economic measures, stood for the truth and believed in meritocracy while mentoring young people as well.
Anane Adjei
He said Prof. Busia was one of the few people whom he revered and looked up to as a young boy who wanted to find a path in academia.
He said apart from J. H. Mensah, whom he trained, he also mentored many others including John Agyekum Kufuor who later became the President of Ghana.
Dr. George Domfeh, a senior lecturer at the University of Ghana, for his part said Prof. Busia opened the frontiers for foreign direct investment which was unusual at the time.
He said apart from focusing on rural development, Busia also instituted some measures to devalue Ghana’s currency which ended the shortage of goods as a result of hoarding by traders.
Minister for lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor also described Prof. Busia as “courageous and farsighted” giving some decisions he made during his tenure as Prime Minister.
“As we honour posthumously the 110th birthday of Prof. Busia, we must be awakened in implementing policies and programmes that contribute to sustainable and holistic development of our country even though it may not be popular today” he added
Minister for Environment, Science Technology and Innovation, Kwaku Afriyiesaid apart from making rural development a major priority of his government, Prof. Busia also made the health of women a priority, introducing programmes such as compulsory maternity leave for women among others.
Executive Director of the Busia Institute for Rural and Democratic Development (BIRDD), Anane Adjei said the objective of the Institute is to deepen discussions on Prof. Busia’s ideals and philosophies on democracy and rural development while the country find ways of enhancing them for national development.
He said apart from a series of lectures and symposiums held in his memory, the Institute has also published 3 books on Busia and intends to donate 1000 of them to Senior High Schools across the country.
By Ebenezer K. Amponsah