Parliament have saluted the Prime Minister for the Second Republic of Ghana, Prof. Kofi Abrefa Busia, for his strong conviction in promoting democracy and rule of law.

He was also particularly praised for championing development in the rural areas to bridge the development gap between the rural areas and the urban areas.

Parliament doffed its hat to the Prime Minister, who ruled from 1969 to 1972, when the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Wenchi, Prof. George Gyan-Baffour, read a statement on the floor of the house to commemorate the 100th birthday of the former prime minister.

Members of parliament from the Brong Ahafo Region, where Prof. Busia hailed from, praised him for his achievements as a politician and a scholar.

In his tribute, Prof. Gyan-Baffour said Prof. Busia, who was also a former MP for Wenchi, came into politics to provide a formidable alternative to the excessive radicalism, arbitrariness and dictatorial tendencies of the people who were then managing the affairs of the country.

“He believed in democracy and rule of law with passion and preferred the use of power of reason and persuasion to the brutal use of the power of politics,” the Wenchi MP said.

According to Prof. Gyan-Baffour, the former Prime Minister strongly recognised the existence of market failure and the need to create a social network to prevent hardships to those who were vulnerable in the society even though he was a capitalist.

He said despite the wrong notion that Prof. Busia was against the struggle for political independence, he was the one who in parliament on March 6, 1957, seconded the motion for an address in a reply to be presented to the Majesty on behalf of the National Assembly.

He said it was Prof. Busia who introduced the National Service Scheme to help instil patriotism and discipline in the youth of the country, stressing that he also introduced the Centre for Civic Education to educate the populace on their civic rights and responsibilities, and as an instrument for nurturing democracy and the rule of way.

“Mr Speaker, he was the first Ghanaian leader to set up a ministry responsible for rural development. In those 27 months of his administration, he initiated development projects in almost all rural communities in Ghana. He gave light to those in darkness, he gave clean water to those without water, he made feeder roads to remote and inaccessible areas, he built low cost houses for those who did not have decent houses, and he built clinics for the caring of the sick”

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP for Pru East, Dr Kwabena Donkor, said the appointment of A.A. Munufie by Prof. Busia as the minister of rural development was a landmark appointment because the former minister, who also became a founding father of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), truly spearheaded the development of rural areas under Busia’s administration.

“The appointment of Munufie who became an NDC founding father has also helped to bridge the differences between socialist NDC and market-oriented NPP,” adding that no matter the political differences, Ghanaians are one people with a common destiny.

The NDC MP for Banda, Ahmed Ibrahim, said in memory of such an illustrious son of Ghana, a research library should be built at Wenchi, his hometown, where all his literary works, books and publications could be preserved in his honour, and also to serve as a research centre.

The NDC MP for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, said contemporary politicians must learn from the former Prime Minister by frequently writing scholarly books and publications for future leaders to learn from, and for research purposes.

The NDC MP for Zebilla, Cletus Avoka, who found it difficult pronouncing the name of the former prime minister, and pronounced it as “Bushia” to the chagrin of the minority, said he first met Prof. Busia as a young student at the Navrongo Secondary School in 1968 in the Upper East Region when Prof. Busia came to their school as the chairman of the Centre for Civic Education to deliver a lecture. According to him, after the lecture, masters and students alike were convinced about the brilliance of Prof. Busia

According to him, Prof. Busia sacrificed his life for the country, and one thing he would always respect him for is that, even though he was a strong advocate of federalism, he did not use his position as the Prime Minister of the country to create federal states, but rather maintained the unitary state and united the country.

The NPP MP for Subin, Isaac Osei, said he knew the intricacies of politics would forever remember him for a famous quote he uttered when he was launching the University of Ghana branch of the Progress Party (PP) which says “If you enter politics and ask me what qualification is needed for a politician in this country today, I would say this. You will not make a success of it unless you have large capacity to stomach nonsense. You must not think that the more you give, the more loyalty and gratitude you will get. You won’t. Anyone who enters public life must know that he is going into a place where strange a master called opinion is the most unkind of all masters. You would be made to do the things you have done and things you have not done. You would be made a thief, murderer, a miser or anything. If you are going into politics you must prepare to be wounded”.