Wa Polytechnic to be named after Dr. Hilla Limann

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has announced the naming of the Wa Polytechnic after the President of the Third Republic, Dr. Hilla Limann.

He said once the necessary Parliamentary processes leading to the change of the name of the institution was completed, it will be called The Hila Limann Polytechnic.

President Akufo-Addo announced this at a ceremony to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the death of Dr. Limann.

“The council of the Wa Polytechnic, on January 18, proposed that the institution be named after the former president and added that the government fully endorsed the idea”.

He said the name “Dr. Hila Limann Polytechnic” would remain with the conversion of the polytechnic into a technical university.

President Akufo-Addo described Dr. Limann as an illustrious son of the Upper West Region and noted that the former president should be celebrated as an eminent Ghanaian, distinguished statesman, and, above all, a patriot.

“A carefully glance of his life story reveals a young man who, regardless the circumstance of his birth, strived to become the leader of the country,” he said.

He said the former President pursued further education in famous institutions in London in England and Paris in France and added that as a diplomat, he served in various positions and became the Chancellor of Ghana’s permanent mission in Geneva, Switzerland.

“He was elected leader of the Peoples National Party and ascended into the high office of Ghana against a known political heavyweight of the time, Victor Owusu,” he said.

President Akufo-Addo said Dr. Limann’s short-lived government had a herculean task of restoring order and stability after the June 4, 1979 revolution

After his overthrow, he said the former president remained in the country till the political space opened up in 1992.

He said Dr. Limann formed the Peoples National Congress (PNC) and contested in the Presidential race but placed third.

“The party he founded in 1992 is still an active participant in the political discourse of our nation,” he said and noted that his administration had found it fitting to appoint the flag bearer of the party in the 2016 general election as an Ambassador-at-large.

His widow (Dora Fulera Limann), who continues to conduct herself with dignity as befits a former first lady of Ghana, will continue to benefit from the care and attention of government,” he said.

The former First Lady, Mrs. Limann, described the overthrow of the Limann government as unjustified and added that the “it brought to an abrupt end, the vision he (Dr. Limann) had for the country”

The former First Lady said she said her children had paid a heavy price for the life of the former president and thanked President Akufo-Addo for his decision to honour her husband.

A former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof. Ivan Addae-Mensah, in a biography, described Dr. Liman as an unsung hero of Ghanaian politics whose brief tenure in office set an unparalleled standard for selflessness, probity and loyalty that remained unchanged to date.

Prior to the unfortunate coup, he said there had been 19 attempts to overthrow his government and added that although the perpetrators were arrested, not a single of them was killed by the state for treason.

“Dr. Limann lived a simple but fulfilling life with his family till his re-entry into politics in 1992 as the flag bearer and founder of the People’s National Convention and remained active in politics until his untimely passing in 1998,” he said.

He said Dr. Limann, as a young man and prior to his political adventures in 1978, had participated in politics at the district level and served as a member of the 1969 constitutional commission under the chairmanship of Edward Akufo-Addo, the President of the Second Republic.

Source: GBCONLINE