Amma Busia, the former first vice-chair of the New Patriotic Party and sister of the late Kofi Abrefa Busia, who served as Ghana’s prime minister in the Second Republic, has passed away.
Madam Amma Busia, who until her death was a member of the NPP’s Council of Elders, is said to have died today (Tuesday 12 December 2023) after a short illness.
Confirming the death of Amma Busia to Asaase News, her son, Obeng Busia, said she died peacefully in hospital at the Nyaho Medical Centre, Accra, in the early hours of Tuesday (12 December). She was 87.
Amma Busia was one of the most notable members of the ruling New Patriotic Party. Despite difficulties with her health which had made her less mobile in the past decade, she appeared strong and beautiful up to the point of her death at the age of 87.
She was noted for waging a vigorous campaign against the government of Ignatius Kutu Acheampong and was a noted political critic in the 1970s and 1980s. It is a matter of record that she was arrested seven times because of her activism.
After her seventh arrest, she was detained for 90 days.
Amma Busia lost her father at the age of six and her mother at the age of 13. She had a challenging life before achieving success through education.
After the launch of the opposition United Party (UP) – formed through an alliance of anti-Convention People’s Party groups, including the Northern People’s Party (NPP), led by Chief Simon Diedong Dombo, supporters of J B Danquah’s United Gold Coast Convention and members of Kofi Busia’s Congress Party – she became involved in politics.
The UP re-emerged as the Busia-led Progress Party (PP), which eventually gave birth to the current New Patriotic Party (NPP).
During that time, Amma Busia joined the founding members’ team and placed the then Rawlings-led Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) government on its toes.
When the New Patriotic Party won power with John Agyekum Kufuor in the year 2000, Amma Busia became a member of the Council of State.
A brilliant political organiser, strong campaigner and devoted member of the NPP, she occupied the first and third national vice-chairperson positions in the New Patriotic Party at various points.
Background
Amma Busia had her primary education at Wenchi Methodist School and Methodist Middle Girls’ School in Kumasi.
She trained as a teacher at the Komenda Training College.
In 1959, she went into exile with her brother Kofi Abrefa Busia and moved to the United Kingdom.
In the UK, she studied institutional management and catering at Regent Street Polytechnic in London.