Busia’s vision, ideas still relevant — Osei-Bonsu
Busia’s vision and ideas are still relevant to Ghana's contemporary politics and society, a Minister of National Security during the Busia regime, Mr K. G. Osei-Bonsu, has argued.
He said Professor Kofi Abrefa Busia had an infectious attitude of humility that accounted for his extraordinary patience and patriotism.
He, therefore, called on leaders to emulate Busia’s conduct and prayed for Ghana to get another leader like Prof. Busia.
Mr Osei-Bonsu was speaking at a symposium held in Sunyani to commemorate the 45th anniversary of Prof. Busia’s assumption of office as Prime Minister of Ghana.
The occasion was also used to inaugurate the Busia Institute for Rural and Democratic Development (BIRDD), an organisation that aims at promoting the vision and legacy of Prof. Busia.
The theme for the function was: “Reliving Busia’s Vision for a Sustainable National Development.”
Footprints
Prof. George Gyan-Baffour, the MP for Wenchi and former Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, who spoke on “Busia and Rural Development”, outlined the footprints of Prof. Busia in the rural areas, notably in road construction, healthcare facilities, water supply, agriculture and education.
He noted that Busia’s passion to develop the rural areas was rooted in his deep concern for our common humanity.
The Wenchi MP said at the time Busia assumed office in 1969, the greater percentage of the nation’s clean water supply was produced for Accra alone, which had 10 per cent of the population, while the rural communities with the masses of the people had a little supply of clean water.
The doctor-patient ratio in the rural areas, he said, was insignificant. Also price of cocoa, which was the main export earner and the major source of income for the rural folks, was at a record low level and unemployment was much higher in the rural communities.
“In the face of these imbalances, the Busia administration drew up a programme that set the country on the path of bridging the poverty and welfare gap between the rural and urban areas. The major steps that the Progress Party government took to address this huge urban-rural development gap were in the areas of health care, access to drinking water, feeder-roads, water supply, agriculture, education and rural electrification,” Prof. Gyan-Baffour noted.
The Executive Director of BIRDD, Nana Agyei-Kodie Anane-Agyei, who outlined the objectives of the Institute, said among other things that BIRDD was committed to highlighting the ideas and vision of Prof. Busia and also projecting and protecting his legacy to promote sustainable national development.
“We call upon everyone who subscribes to the vision and ideas of Prof. Busia to help us realise the objectives of this Institute,” he appealed to the gathering and others.
