President launches Dombo Foundation
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has described the late Mr S. D. Dombo as a selfless patriot and principled political leader who surrendered his legitimate claim of leadership to Dr K. A. Busia all in the supreme interest of the general good of the Danquah-Busia-Dombo tradition and for the promotion of democracy in the country.
He urged the current generation to emulate his principled and sacrificial nature that had enabled the Danquah-Busia-Dombo tradition to survive all the persecutions and harassment that were meant to kill it.
President Akufo-Addo, who was launching the SD Dombo Foundation for Development and Leadership Studies in Accra last Thursday, said unfortunately, not many people would today make such basic sacrifice to ensure the sustenance of not only a political party but also of governments and nation.
Born in 1925, Mr Dombo was a Member of Parliament and the leader of the Northern People’s Party during the First Republic and later merged with the United Party. During the Second Republic, he was a member of the ruling Progress Party.
He was appointed Minister of Health and later Minister for the Interior in the Busia government and passed on in 1998.
President Akufo-Addo announced that it was appropriate that the new University of Business Integrated Development Studies in Wa in the Upper West Region be named after Mr Dombo for his pioneering role in the independence struggle, development of the Northern Territories and the sustenance of the country’s multiparty democracy.
Naming
The President described Mr Dombo as the unsung hero of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) political tradition and that many of the young people of the country and the NPP tradition were not aware of the sterling contributions and sacrifices he made to the tradition and democracy in the country.
He said Mr Dombo was born into a life of struggle and through that he paid his due to the development of the northern territory of the country.
President Akufo-Addo said Mr Dombo attended the Tamale Teacher Training College, and that he and others had to trek on foot for weeks before they could reach school from the Upper Region, adding that, “if that is not a life of struggle then I do not know what it is”.
He said at the time, the training college in Tamale was the highest institution of learning in the northern part of the country and was the breeding ground for the political activities among the new intelligensia of which Mr Dombo, Alhaji Mumuni Bawumia, the father of Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, the current Vice President, Mr Jato Kaleo, Mr J. A. Braimah and Alhaji Yakubu Tali were the leading lights.
He said their agitation and leadership led to the mobilisation of the people and caught the attention of the British colonial administration and that three of them were elected into the legislative council on July 24, 1950.
Kufuor
Former President J.A. Kufuor, who was the chairman of the occasion and who also served in the Busia Administration with Mr Dombo and were both jailed by the Nkrumah regime, described Mr Dombo as a hardworking and dedicated person.
He said Dr Busia was a lone ranger in Parliament but Mr Dombo supported him with his 14 seats and described the Dankwa-Busia-Dombo tradition as the best tradition in Ghana.