It was the 13th of January 1972 and Dr. Kofi Abrefa Busia, then Prime Minister of Ghana was in London for a medical checkup.

This would not be the first time he was in the European country, in fact, it was a place he easily went to when the need arose. For instance, in 1959, as opposition leader against Kwame Nkrumah, he fled the country for England for fear of threats on his life.

He returned to Ghana 7 years after in March 1966 after the overthrow of Dr. Nkrumah. After growing his political ambitions, he, together with friends, 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 of the Second Republic.
Kofi Abrefa Busia continued with NLC’s anti-Nkrumaist stance and adopted a liberalized economic system.

The Second Republic was inaugurated at the Black Star Square on October 1, 1969 with Dr Busia as the Prime Minister and Edward Akufo-Addo as the ceremonial President.

What happened while in London:

He served for about 3 years but this would only later become one of the shortest democratically elected governments because shortly after, his government was overthrown while he was in London by Colonel Ignatius Kutu Acheampong.

Despite his strong executive powers, there were questions about his ability to control his party, take the country out of its economic woes at the time, and to deal with the increasing ethnic and political bitterness.

Ultimately, Busia was overthrown while he was in London and had to stay there till August 28, 1978, when he died from a heart attack in London.

WA/ESA