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“It is appropriate that, on this occasion of commemoration of the 20th anniversary of his death, I announce, with pleasure, that the Governing Council of Wa Polytechnic, in the Upper West Region, at its meeting on Thursday, 18th January, 2018, unanimously proposed to the dynamic Minister for Education, Hon. Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, Member of Parliament for Manhyia South, that the institution should be re-named after Dr. Hilla Limann.”

These were the words of the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, at an event to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the death of the late President of the 3rd Republic, Dr. Hilla Limann, on Tuesday, 23rd January, 2018, at the Accra International Conference Centre.

According to President Akufo-Addo, the Minister for Education, Hon. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has sought his view on this, and he (President Akufo-Addo) has indicated to the Minister his happy agreement to this proposal.

“Once the parliamentary process has been completed, the Wa Polytechnic will, thenceforth, be called the Hilla Limann Polytechnic, a name which will remain with the conversion of the Polytechnic into a Technical University,” he said. 

Describing the late President as “one of the historic figures of modern Ghana”, and “an illustrious son of the Upper West Region”, President Akufo-Addo indicated that Dr. Hilla Limann’s life reveals the story of young man who, regardless of the circumstances of his birth, strived for excellence, no matter where he found himself.

“Beginning his studies at the Government Middle School, in Tamale, he pursued further education in world-famous institutions, such as the London School of Economics, the Sorbonne in Paris, the University of London, and, finally, obtained a Ph.D in Political Science and Constitutional Law from the University of Paris,” he said.

The President continued, “As a diplomat, he served in various positions at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, becoming eventually Head of Chancery at the Ghana Embassy in Lomé, Togo, and Counsellor at Ghana's Permanent Mission in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1971. Such was the worth of the man that, though not then a political heavyweight in the country, he was elected leader of the People’s National Party, and, on the ticket of that party, ascended to the high office of President of the 3RD Repulic, winning 62% of the vote, after a run-off against Victor Owusu, the Popular Front Party’s presidential candidate, a known political heavyweight of the time.”

Dr. Hilla Limann’s short-lived presidency, spanning a period of some two years, three months, President Akufo-Addo said, had the herculean task of restoring order and stability to the nation after the turbulence and tumult of the June 4th era.

“Dr. Limann led a full and varied life. Ill-fated as his presidency was, he died with the reputation and memory of a decent, honest, patriotic man, who did his best to overcome considerable odds,” he added.

President Akufo-Addo noted that the late Dr. Hilla Limann will be happy to know that the party he founded in 1992, on whose ticket he fought the 1992 presidential election, the People’s National Convention (PNC), is still an active participant in the political discourse of our nation.

“Indeed, I have found it fitting to appoint the respected 2016 presidential candidate of the party, Dr. Edward Mahama, Ambassador-at-large, a role he is playing with value to the Government and people of Ghana,” he added.  

President Akufo-Addo also used the opportunity to assure the family of the late President that “his widow, Mrs. 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.”