Kofi Abrefa Busia was a Ghanaian politician and a member of the Progress Party. From 1969 to 1972, he was the Prime Minister of Ghana who helped restore civilian government following military rule. He was also a political academic.
He was born on July 11 1913 in Wenchi Brong Ahafo Region.
Education and Career
1931 - 1932: Wesley College, Kumasi, Ashanti Region 1936 - 1939: Teacher, Achimota College, (Gained first Degree with Honours in Medieval and Modem History from the University of London, through correspondence during this period) 1941: Oxford University - BA (Hons) (Oxon) Politics, Philosophy & Economics; MA (Oxon), Ph.D.Social Anthropology
1942 - 1949: District Commissioner
1949 - 1954: Appointed first lecturer in African Studies (His thesis for Doct useorate on "The Position of the Chief in the Modern Political System of Ashanti" is regarded as one of the best on the subject and is often quoted in scholarly works). He became the first African to occupy a Chair at the University of Gold Coast
1951: Elected by the Ashanti Confederacy to the Legislative Council
1952: Leader of Ghana Congress Party (The Congress Party merged with the other opposition parties to form the United Party)
1959: As the leader of the opposition against Nkrumah, Busia felt his life threatened and fled the country. Became Professor of Sociology and Culture at the University of Leiden in the Hague, Netherlands.
1961 - 1966: Senior Member of St. Anthony's College, University of Oxford
1966(March): Returned to Ghana after the coup and appointed Chairman of the National Advisory Committee of the NLC
1967 - 1968: Chairman, Centre for Civic Education (Combed the length and breadth of the country as Chairman of the CCE and sold himself as the next leader)
1968: Member, Constitutional Review Committee (When the NLC lifted the ban on politics, Busia, together with friends in the defunct UP formed the Progress Party, PP)
1969: PP won the parliamentary elections of that year with 104 of the 105 seats contested
1969(October): Sworn-in as Prime Minister (Busia continued with NLC's anti-Nkrumaist stance and adopted a liberalized economic system. The Alliance Compliance Order which forced about half a million Nigerians out of Ghana and the devaluation of the cedi by 44 percent in 1971 met with a lot of resistance from the public. While in Britain for a medical check-up, the army under Colonel Ignatius Kutu Acheampong overthrew his government on January 13, 1972.
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 remained in exile in England and returned to Oxford University, where he died from a heart attack in August 1978.
Along with J. B. Danquah and S. D. Dombo, Busia's name is associated with Ghana's political rights. The New Patriotic Party has claimed the Danquah-Busia-Dombo mantle in the Fourth Republic.
He was married to Naa Morkor and is the father of Abena, Akosua, and Kofi Busia.
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