Kofi Abrefa Busia

Kofi Abrefa Busia
Prime Minister
2nd Republic of Ghana
In office
1 October 1969  13 January 1972
President

Brigadier Akwasi Afrifa
3 April 1969 – 7 August 1970
Nii Amaa Ollennu
7–31 August 1970
Edward Akufo-Addo
31 August 1970 – 13 January 1972

Preceded by
Kwame Nkrumah
as Prime Minister
Succeeded by
None
(position abolished)
Personal details
Born (1913-07-11)July 11, 1913
Wenchi, Gold Coast
Died August 28, 1978(1978-08-28) (aged 65)
Oxford, United Kingdom
Political party Progress Party
Spouse(s) Naa Morkor Busia (died 2010)
Profession Academic
Religion Christian
Elected following military rule and overthrown by military regime.

Kofi Abrefa Busia (11 July 1913 – 28 August 1978) was Prime Minister of Ghana from 1969 to 1972.

Early life

Busia was born a prince in the kingdom of Wenchi, a part of the Ashanti Confederacy now in the Brong Ahafo Region, one of the four Gold Coast Territories, then under British rule and now called Ghana.

Education

He was educated at Methodist School, Wenchi, Mfantsipim School, Cape Coast, then at Wesley College, Kumasi, from 1931 to 1932. He later became a teacher at Achimota School. He gained his first degree with Honours in Medieval and Modern History from the University of London, through correspondence during this period. He then went on to study at University College, Oxford, where he was the college's first African student. He took a BA (Hons) in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (1941, MA) 1946) and a DPhil in Social Anthropology in 1947, with a thesis entitled "The position of the chief in the modern political system of Ashanti: a study of the influence of contemporary social changes on Ashanti political institutions."

Career

He served as a district commissioner from 1942 to 1949, and was appointed first lecturer in African Studies. He became the first African to occupy a Chair at the University College of the Gold Coast (now the University of Ghana). In 1951 he was elected by the Ashanti Confederacy to the Legislative Council. In 1952, he was Leader of Ghana Congress Party,[1] which later merged with the other opposition parties to form the United Party (UP).

As leader of the opposition against Kwame Nkrumah, he fled the country on the grounds that his life was under threat. In 1959 Busia became a Professor of Sociology and Culture of Africa at the University of Leiden near the Hague, Netherlands. From 1962 until 1969, he was a Fellow of St Antony's College, Oxford.

He returned to Ghana in March 1966 after Nkrumah's government was overthrown by the military; and was appointed as the Chairman of the National Advisory Committee of the NLC. In 1967/68, he served as the Chairman of the Centre for Civic Education. He used this opportunity and sold himself as the next Leader. He also was a Member of the Constitutional Review Committee. When the NLC lifted the ban on politics, Busia, together with friends in the defunct UP formed the Progress Party (PP).[1]

In 1969, the PP won the parliamentary elections with 104 of the 105 seats contested. This paved the way for him to become the next Prime Minister. Busia continued with NLC's anti-Nkrumaist stance and adopted a liberalised economic system. There was a mass deportation of half a million Nigerian citizens from Ghana, and a 44 percent devaluation of the cedi in 1971, which met with a lot of resistance from the public.

While he was in Britain for a medical check-up, the army under Colonel Ignatius Kutu Acheampong overthrew his government on 13 January 1972. Busia died from a heart attack in 1978.

Along with J. B. Danquah and S. D. Dombo, Busia's name is associated with Ghana's political right. The New Patriotic Party has claimed the Danquah-Busia-Dombo mantle in the Fourth Republic.

The author Abena Busia, actress Akosua Busia are his daughters & yoga guru, Kofi Amaniampong Busia, is one of his sons. He left behind four sons and four daughters: Kwasi Osei, Afua Safoa, Nana Gyasi, Yaw, Abena, Kofi, Nana Frema and Akosua Busia.

Bibliography

Notes

  1. 1 2 "Ghana:Political Parties". Encyclopaedias of the Nations. Thomson Corporation. Retrieved 2007-04-15.
  2. Leiden 1960 inaugural lecture open access online

External links

Political offices
Preceded by
Kwame Nkrumah
as Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Ghana
1969 1972
Succeeded by
None
Position abolished
Parliament of Ghana
New title Leader of the Opposition
1952 ?
Succeeded by
?
Parliament suspended by military Member of Parliament for Wenchi East
1969 19721
Parliament suspended after military coup
Party political offices
New title Leader of the Ghana Congress Party
1952 1957
Succeeded by
?
New title Leader of the United Party
1957 ?
Succeeded by
?
New title Leader of the Progress Party
1969 1972
Parties banned after coup
Notes and references
1. Ghana@50
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