Mr Ameyaw Baah(inset)

The Busia Institute for Rural and Democratic Development (BIRDD) has donated 100 copies of books of the biography of the late Prime Minister of the Wesley College of Education.

The gesture was to appreciate the decision to name the Wesley College of Education library after Dr Kofi Abrefa Busia.

The book, written by Mr Anane Agyei, Executive Director of the Institute, was forwarded by former President, John Agyekum Kufuor, and titled, ‘Dr K.A Busia: A Symbol of Democracy – Exploration of His Life and Works’.

The Institute further donated a desktop computer and 50 packs of braille sheets to the visually impaired unit of the College to enhance learning.

It was part of activities to mark the memorial event of the late Dr Busia at the Wesley College of Education last Monday.

Under the theme “Knowledge, Service and The Future”, the event was graced by the clergy, traditional leaders, academia, politicians, including Members of Parliament (MP), and a cross-section of the public.

The Executive Director of the Institute noted that 45 years of a person’s demise was relatively long enough to forget such a person, “but Busia has survived by the great legacy he left behind, continually illuminating his memory”.

The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, in a speech read on his behalf by the Chief of Nkontomponiafere, Nana Apinkra Akwasi Awuah, commended the BIRDD for championing the remarkable contributions of the late Dr Busia.

According to the Asantehene, the initiative, undertaken by the Busia Institute in partnership with Wesley College in Kumasi, “resonates deeply as we pay tribute to the enduring impact of his principles and ideals.”

The Majority Leader of Parliament, Mr Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, who was the guest speaker, eulogised the late Prime Minister for his contributions to Ghana’s progress.

He observed it was sad that extreme partisanship and political polarisation had hampered the celebration of national heroes, as “attempts have been made to obliterate the contribution of many notable Ghanaians and to some extent the distortion of our history.”

To ensure Busia’s name lives on forever the MP urged the Institute to organise an academic award dubbed ‘BUSIA’, ‘Best University Student in Africa, as a way to honour the heroic feats of Dr Busia, who was a scholar.

Mr Kennedy Ameyaw Baah, Acting Principal of the College, on his part, also urged the Busia Institute to establish an endowment fund in the College in honour of him.

Dr Busia was the Prime Minister of Ghana from 1969 to 1972 and the first-ever African to hold professorship on the Ghanaian soil.

From Kingsley E. Hope, Kumasi