Dr. Busia Remembered

Naa Morkor Busia was on Monday joined by friends and well wishers to celebrate the 23rd anniversary of the death of her husband, Dr. Kofi Abrefa Busia, Ghana's second Republican Prime Minister, at the Calvary Methodist Church in Accra, where he worshipped.

Mrs Theresa Kufuor, First Lady, and several Ministers of State, including Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Attorney General and Minister of Justice, whose father was President at the time, were among the congregation.

In a sermon, the Reverend Dr. Emmanuel Asante, Principal of the Trinity College said Dr Busia's life could simply be summed up as "greatness articulated in humble service."

The late Premier was being remembered not because of "his political and academic achievements but because Jesus made an impact on him," he said.

Rev. Dr. Asante asked Christians to reflect on Christ's advice that leaders must serve and be prepared at all times to be the least.

He said the clamour for power, rejection of self-denial service and the desire to be recognised as leaders and to enjoy the spotlight have rendered life petty.

"The life of Dr. Busia was filled with humility. He rendered sacrificial service. We shall remember him!" he said

Prof. K.E deGraft-Johnson, a student of Dr. Busia, said: "It is 23 years short of one day when Prof. Busia left us. Today we gather here to remember him and the ideals he stood for."

He called Dr. Busia, "a Christian who held his faith strong" and urged Ghanaians to keep the flame of democracy burning.

"Let this generation know the ideals. Too often generations forget and drift away from the very virtues that make a nation strong."

Prof. Abena Busia, daughter, said: " By the time of his death, father was regarded as one of Africa's most influential scholars whose parallel academic and political career was shaped by an abiding and consistent concern for the peoples of Africa and principles of democratic rule.

Concluding her father's biography, she quoted from L.H.Ofosu Appiah's eulogy on the former Premier, written in 1978: " The curtain has fallen on the figure of Kofi Abrefa Busia, but his good deeds will outlive him. History may be kinder to him after his death than it was when he lived."

Dr. Busia died in exile in Oxford, United Kingdom, on August 28 1978.