Background
Kofi Abrefa Busia was born (on 11 July 1913) 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.
Kofi Abrefa Busia was born (on 11 July 1913) 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.
Busia was educated at Methodist School, Wenchi, Mfantsipim School, Cape Coast, then proceeded to 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."
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, 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).
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.
In 1942 he became one of the two first African administrative officers in the colonial service
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,
1947Purposeful education for Africa
1968Africa in Search of Democracy
1967Busia was a committed Christian. He combined scholarship, politics and Christian faith in unique ways at a time when this newly
independent country was struggling to define its national identity. Of additional interest, Busia was in many ways a product of Methodist mission endeavours in Ghana. He reminds us that in Africa, ‘Religion and life are inseparable.
Further emphasizing the role of religion, Busia contends that ultimately, ‘behind Africa’s search for modernization and for new political and social institutions lie[s] an interpretation of the universe which is intensely and pervasively religious. It influences the decisions and choices Africa is making.
Busia was a Ghanaian political leader, an intellectual in politics, a man concerned about the Ashanti political system but most importantly, a man with a distinct vision for Ghana. His vision for Ghana was to initiate a civic education programme, which purpose was to revive a spirit of sensibility by Ghanaian traditional values. However, many of the younger Ghanaians saw Dr. Busia revivalism as irrelevant and unattractive. Others, with a more conservative view saw this as a way of solving the country’s current turbulence.
Quotations:
"Diplomacy means the art of nearly deceiving all your friends, but not quite deceiving all your enemies."
"I don't like hypocrisy-even in international relations."
Freedom is the key to Kofi's personality. Kofi Abrefa Busia loves travel, adventure, variety and meeting new people, and he longs to experience all of life. He also loves to be involved in several things at the same time as long as he is not tied down to any one area. Change is constant in his world, requiring adaptability and courage.
With his upbeat and often inspiring personality, Kofi Abrefa Busia makes friends easily and attracts people from all walks of life. He has a way with words and an uncanny ability to motivate others. Thus, Kofi can be very successful and happy in sales, advertising, publicity, promotion, politics or any profession that requires communication skills and understanding of people.
His opponents see this as irrelevant to Africa’s needs, but he considers democracy to be universally applicable and his career was devoted to trying to make it work. But his gentle, liberal approach, stemming from a nonassertive character and strong Christian upbringing, made little impression on Ghana's underlying political and economic problems.
He was married, and had four sons and four daughters
Both parents are of Ghana...
