The Busia Institute for Rural and Democratic Development (BIRDD), has marked the 50th anniversary of the assumption of office of Kofi Abrefa Busia, as Executive Prime Minister of the Republic of Ghana. “As we commemorate the Golden Jubilee of the Busia administration, we wish to remind Ghanaians about the need to bear each other’s burden to promote national cohesion and progress, a conception that Dr Busia couched as ‘Be your brother’s keeper,” Executive Director of the BIRDD, Anane Agyei said in a statement. Read the statement below:

50th ANNIVERSARY OF DR K. A. BUSIA’S ASSUMPTION OF OFFICE AS GHANA’S PRIME MINISTER, THE RELEVANCE OF HIS VISION FOR CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY

Today marks 50 years of Dr Kofi Abrefa Busia’s assumption of office as Executive Prime Minister of the Republic of Ghana.

As a respected academic who valued the tenets of democracy and the rule of law, his leadership was characterised by deep commitment to good governance. Sadly, the usurpers who sought their parochial interest cut short his reign, a phenomenon that became the bane of Ghana’s progress.

The vision of Dr Busia in building a multiparty democracy instead of a one-party state was accepted when the country returned to democratic goverance at the onset of the 4^th Republic.

The Busia Institute is glad that subsequent governments after Dr Busia’s have continued his vision of rural development, which under His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has assumed the status of ‘One District One Factory’, ‘Planting for Food and Jobs’, ‘One Village One Dam’ amongst other initiatives.

BIRDD wishes to pledge its support to any initiatives by government or any person or groups that aim at enhancing the welbeing of the rural communities for holistic national development.

As we commemorate the golden Jubilee of the Busia administration, we wish to remind Ghanaians about the need to bear each other’s burden to promote national cohesion and progress, a conception that Dr Busia couched as ‘Be your brother’s keeper.’

Fifty years ago, when Dr Busia’s Progress Party introduced Tree Plantation Development with special emphasis on teak trees, not many people at the time appreciated the importance of that vision but today the fruits of that idea are evident in all spheres of life in Ghana.

In the spirit of that vision, we wish to urge every Ghanaian to always think of what they too can do for Ghana for the benefit of future generations. We to urge the youth in particular, to read more about the life and works of Dr Busia so as to be imbued with the noble traits such as honesty, patriotism and selflessness that defined his life.

We salute the memory of Dr Busia and his compatriots who helped the Progress Party administration to leave a lasting mark in its relatively short period of 27 months in office.