Today’s in History,On 28th August,1978,Dr. K.A Busia Dies in London

Dr. Kofi Abrefa Busia was born on 11th July ,1913 in Wench in the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana.He attended Methodist School and Mfantsipim School in Cape Coast. He latter went to Wesley College, Kumasi from 1931-1932.He became a teacher at Achimota School from 1936-1939.

Busia obtained his BA(Oxon) in politics, Philosophy and Economics,MA(Oxon) and his PhD in social Anthropology.

After his successful education,he was appointed at the District Commissioner in 1942-1949.

He was the first lecture in African Studies , from 1949-1954.

In the year 1951,he was elected by the Ashanti Confideracy to the Legislative council. Dr.Busia was the leader of the Ghana Congress later United Party(UP)

As leader of the opposition against Kwame Nkrumah, he fled the country on the grounds that his life was under threat.

By late 1958 Nkrumah was prepared to detain their leading members, and by the next year he had passed a law unseating any Council member absent for more than 20 sessions. The law was supposedly aimed directly at Busia, whose scholarly commitments took him all over the world. Threatened by immediate detention, Busia left Ghana.

He returned to Ghana after the coup in 1966 and was appointed Chairman of the National Advisory Committee of the National Liberation Council (NLC)

He utilize this opportunity and sold himself as the next Leader. He also was a Member of the Constitutional Review Committee. When the NLC lifted the ban on politics.

In 1969, the PP won the parliamentary elections with 105 of the 140 seats contested. This paved the way for him to be sworn in as  the new Prime Minister. Busia continued with NLC’s anti-Nkrumaist stance and adopted a liberalised economic system. There was a mass deportation of half a million Nigerian citizens from Ghana, and a 44 percent devaluation of the cedi in 1971, which met with a lot of resistance from the public.

Widespread discontent led to a second military coup on January 13, 1972. The presidency was abolished and the National Assembly dissolved under the regime of Lieutenant Colonel Ignatius Kutu Acheampong.

He died of Natural cause on August 28,1978 in London