Former President J.A. Kufuor has paid tribute to the late first National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, B.J. Da Rocha, describing him as someone who dedicated his entire life for the sustenance of the democratic culture of Ghana and particularly the NPP. B.J. Da Rocha passed away last Tuesday, 23 February 2010, after a short illness. Recounting how he came to know him to Asempa News in an interview at his residence in Kumasi, Mr. Kufuor said the late Da Rocha was not initially a member of the Danquah-Busia tradition but joined at the instance of former Prime Minister K.A. Busia when the two met at a constituent assembly in 1968. Mr. Kufuor said the late Prof. Busia loved how forthright and principled the late Da Rocha was, and asked that he joins, which he obliged first as general secretary and as Chairman of the NPP when the ban on party politics was lifted in 1992. Former President Kufuor again recounted how he was in the same prison cell with a brother of the late Da Rocha named Moses who was picked up by the military government led by Colonel Ignatius Kutu Acheampong and tortured to death after the overthrow of the Busia government. At the time of Mr. B.J. Da Rocha’s death, former President Kufuor was away in Monrovia, Liberia attending the Africa-China-US summit. Story by Kojo Asare-Baffour Acheampong/Asempa 94.7FM/Ghana