Ghana’s ex-president Rawlings passes on aged 73

By Rotimi Fadeyi, Doorsuur Iwambe & Abiodun Taiwo

Former President Jerry Rawlings of Ghana has died from complications of COVID-19.

It was gathered that the expresident died at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, capital of Ghana, on Thursday morning.

A military ruler, who later joined politics, Rawlings ruled Ghana from 1981 to 2001. He led a military junta until 1992, and then served two terms as the democratically elected president of Ghana.

A flight lieutenant of the Ghanaian Air Force, Rawlings first staged military coup as a young revolutionary on May 15, 1979, five weeks before scheduled elections to return the country to civilian rule.

When the coup failed, he was imprisoned, publicly court-marshalled and sentenced to death.

After initially handing power over to a civilian government, he took back control of the country on 31 December 1981 as the chairman of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC).

He then resigned from the military, founded the National Democratic Congress (NDC), and became the first president of the Fourth Republic.

He was re-elected in 1996 for four more years. After two terms in office, the limit according to the Ghanaian constitution, Rawlings endorsed his vice-president John Atta Mills as presidential candidate in 2000.

He was born on June 22, 1947. In the few months that he led the country in 1979, he was responsible for executing several former heads of state and army generals for their alleged graft and mismanagement.

He was also seen as a champion of the poor and began his time in power as a committed socialist.

He later introduced free-market reforms and ushered in a long period of political stability that continues today.

Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has sent condolences to the government and people of Ghana over the passing of Rawlings, affirming that the entire African continent would sorely miss the sterling qualities of the great leader.

A statement issued by Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said the president believed the passion, discipline and moral strength that the former Ghanaian leader employed to reposition his country over many years continue to reverberate across the continent and beyond.

The President noted that with commendation, the unique role the former president played in strengthening political institutions in his country and Africa, stimulating the economy for sustainable growth, and vociferously championing the African cause by urging many leaders to work towards interdependency on the global stage, especially in areas of competitive advantage.

Buhari joined family, friends and associates of the former Ghanaian leader in mourning his departure, assuring that the ideas that Rawlings postulated, particularly for development in Africa, and his sacrifices in working in various countries as an envoy for peace and democracy would always be remembered.

The President prayed that God would grant the Ghanaian leader eternal rest, and comfort all his loved ones.

Also, former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has condoled with the family and the people of Ghana on the death of Rawlings.

In a condolence letter to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Ado, copy which was made available to newsmen through his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi on Thursday, Obasanjo eulogized the former Ghanaian leader.

He said that Rawlings was passionate about peace, security and leadership issues in Africa, declaring that “President Rawlings will be missed for his exemplary leadership across Africa, but particularly for his contributions to nationbuilding in the Republic of Ghana where he served, first as the military head of state of the country from 1981 to 1992 and later as a democraticallyelected President from 1992- 2000.

“Like many of his contemporaries too, former President Rawlings provided the much-needed leadership and direction which impacted positively on the social stability and democratic progress recorded thus far in Ghana.

A quintessential patriot and courageous leader, he will be remembered for his critical role in the evolvement of modern democratic Ghana.

“As you know, I worked very closely with our departed brother within the remaining two years of his completing his second term in office, i.e.1999- 2000 and during which time I had become a democraticallyelected President of Nigeria.

I found in him a reliable friend, ally and confidant.

“We worked together under the auspices of AU with constructive contributions at the various fora in our joint efforts at charting a new future for Africa particularly in tackling the scourge of malaria in our continent using the platform of the African summit on roll back malaria where his participation was quite active and the quality of his contributions enriched our deliberations and pointed the way forward in dealing with the disease.

He was passionate about peace, security and leadership issues in Africa. “It must also be on record that President Rawlings played a key role in furthering the actualization of the objectives of the Africa Leadership Forum, a non-governmental organization which I founded in 1988 to develop leadership capacities in Africa in order to increase productivity of major actors in government, parliament, business and civil society.”

Obasanjo noted that the late Ghanaian President supported and accommodated the organisation and its staff during the period of the relocation of the organisation’s base to Ghana during the administration of Gen. Sani Abacha in 1995.

“No doubt, his generous assistance to ALF and its staff makes me forever indebted to him. I can proudly say he was a true friend and brother.

His works, values, and principles have had and will continue to have a great influence and impact in Africa and beyond.

“I join the government and the good people of Ghana as well as millions of others around the world in mourning a man, who dedicated his life to the growth and development of Ghana, his country, in particular, and Africa as a whole.

“While earnestly praying for the repose of the soul of President Rawlings, I add that God Almighty should give his family, your Government and people of Ghana the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss of this committed nationalist,” Obasanjo stated.

In the same vein, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 general elections, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has mourned the death of ex-Ghanaian President.

Taking to his verified Twitter handle, Atiku said that Jerry Rawlings was an African giant whose tenure as leader of Ghana will remain emblematic with the restoration of that country.

“He represented a generation of leaders who gave their all for the rebirth of his country and Africa at large.

I pray for a pleasant repose of his soul and console with the people of Ghana; his contemporaries and current leaders in Africa on the loss of a worthy patriot,’’ he twitted.

READ ALSO: Ghana loses former president, Jerry Rawlings, to COVID-19

On his part, former President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki described the late Rawlings as a panAfricanist.

“From his early days as a young revolutionary, to his later years as a renowned statesman and pan-Africanist, Jerry Rawlings always led from the front and matched his words with his actions,” Saraki said via Twitter.