Parliament eulogizes Adu Boahen

Accra, July 19, GNA - Professor Emeritus Albert Adu Boahen on Wednesday earned a post-humours applause by the Speaker and Members of Parliament for the role he played in the development of the academia and in politics in the country.

The House also observed a minute of silence in memory of the man, who tutored many and inspired many generations that came after his own. "We pay tribute to a man of the people; a man of integrity and steely determination; a man who was unassuming; very transparent; incorruptible; principled and fearless," Mr Felix Owusu-Adjapong, Majority Leader, said in a tribute.

He described the late Professor as: "Intellectual colossus and a political luminary whose evergreen ideas and postulations will remain recognizable illuminating landmarks in the firmament of contemporary Ghanaian geopolitics."

Mr Owusu-Adjapong said Prof Adu Boahen fought to eliminate problems of social inequality, ethnocentrism, nepotism and infantile political disorders.

The Majority Leader said the man suffered various detentions and harassment under various military governments as he fought for the return of the country to civilian constitutional rule.

The Majority Leader said the stature of the late Professor could be measured from the response of most Ghanaians to the series of lectures he delivered during the J.B. Danquah Memorial Lectures in February 1988. Under the topic: "The Ghanaian Sphinx: Reflections on The Contemporary History of Ghana 1972 to 1987," he spoke of issues that many dared not to think on.

"The brilliant and glittering exposition left an indelible mark on the minds of all who had the privilege of listening to him - the steely courage he plucked to discuss, challenge and analyse then taboo issues shook the foundation of that edifice which had become the status quo." Mr Owusu-Adjapong said by that singular deed, the history Professor had changed the history of the country dramatically, "puncturing the grotesque balloon of the culture of silence."

Mr Felix Owusu Adjapong also saw Professor Adu Boahen as scholar whose writings challenged the rather euro-centric views of Africa, which was fed by ignorance and hatred.

"Throughout his distinguish career, the redoubtable and irrepressible Professor did not only concern himself with exorcising euro-centric ambivalence and mortal violence on African history but also political violence in Ghana in particular and Africa as whole." He praised Mrs Adu Boahen for standing by her husband during his hospitalization at the 37th Military Hospital.

Mr Edward Doe Adjaho, Deputy Minority Leader, said Prof Adu Boahen's place in academia would always remain intact. "It was practically impossible to go through Legon (University of Ghana) without knowing him. Some of us knew him as a celebrated academic until he formed the United National Convention (UNC) with William Ofori-Atta and others."

He asked Ghanaians to learn from what the Professor stood for =94that is, all of us cannot agree on every subject at a time but we must recognize each other's views=94.

Mr Doe Adjaho said it was about time Ghanaians changed their attitude of praising the dead and not helping the living while there was time to do so.

"The Professor has paid his dues, he deserve to be honoured. I, however, believe that we could have done a lot more for him while he was alive."

Madam Cecilia Dapaah, Deputy Minister, Water Resources, Works and Housing, said the Professor should have be alive now to chronicle our history because "these are exciting times".

She lauded Mrs Adu Boahen, who "gave full meaning to the marriage vow of for better for worst as she stood by her man till the last minute. Some of us have some lessons to take from her".

Mr Mahama Ayariga, NDC-Bawku Central, said he admired the late Professor for believing in what he wrote and acting his beliefs. He said; "as a young student I drunk so much from the knowledge of that great Professor but only had a brief physical encounter with him as a first year student at the University of Ghana".

He, however, criticised the New Patriotic Party (NPP) decision to boycott the 1992 Parliamentary elections after Professor Adu Boahen, the Party's candidate in the Presidential election lost to Former President Jerry John Rawlings.

"I don't know the role he played in that affair but I know and believe that if NPP had contested and come to Parliament, the nation would have been richer by now."

Prof Adu Boahen died on May 24, 2006, the day he turned 74 at the 37th Military Hospital.

He was born at Osiem in the Eastern Region in 1934. He schooled at Mfantsipim School at Cape Coast and continued at the University of Ghana, where he passed with a BA Honours Degree in History in 1956. Prof Adu Boahen enrolled at the School of African and Oriental Studies, University of London, where he was awarded a PhD Degree in African Studies.

In 1959 he was appointed a Lecturer at the University of Ghana and rose to the position of Full Professor in 1971 when he was just 37 years old.