Since Thursday, November 12, 2020, the Ghanaian national flag has been flying at half mast in line with the national mourning declared by the country in honour of Jerry John Rawlings, former president of the country, who died two weeks after burying his mother.
Besides Ghana, the African continent is mourning the late president because of his uncommon feats, which has made Ghana one of Africa’s most stable democracies.
Of course, Rawlings is worth all the eulogies even in death.
He was a military Head of State, resigned, embraced democracy and served two terms as the democratically elected president of Ghana.
However, Rawlings would be remembered for his uncommon guts in leadership on the African continent.
The charismatic leader, who died at 73 years, led two coups, first in 1979, and led a military junta until 1992, before twice being elected president in multiparty polls.
One of his intrigues was the failed coup on May 15, 1979, when he was a flight lieutenant of the Ghanaian Air Force.
While the failed coup was five weeks before scheduled elections to return the country to civilian rule, he was imprisoned, publicly court-martialed and sentenced to death.
A flight lieutenant of the Ghanaian Air Force, Rawlings first staged a military coup as a young revolutionary on May 15, 1979, five weeks before scheduled elections to return the country to civilian rule.
But the fearless Rawlings plotted another coup from the prison and took back control of the country on December 31, 1981 and became chairman of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC).
For the first of any African leader, after seizing power, Rawlings fought corruption and executed several former heads of state, army generals and Supreme Court judges for their alleged graft and mismanagement.
The execution shocked the world and made Rawlings a charismatic figure indeed.
Moreover, Ghana was better off with the action, which is being sustained till date as one of the least corrupt countries in Africa, in addition to being recognised globally as one of Africa’s most stable democracies.
Unarguably, Ghana’s longest-serving leader, Rawlings was also seen as a champion of the poor.
His countrymen who are observing the one week national mourning are already missing him. John Mahama, presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), founded by Rawlings, suspended his campaign for next month’s elections in honour of his late leader.
As well, Nana Akufo-Addo, Ghana’s president, who is from a rival political party, is mourning Rawlings like the exemplary leader he was while alive.
“A great tree has fallen, and Ghana is poorer for this loss,” Akufo-Addo said in a statement that also announced the seven days of national mourning.
Before his death, the late Ghanaian former president often expressed some regret about the killings he ordered in the past; especially the execution by firing squad of Supreme Court judges.
“I am still aware that we in Ghana do not like bloodshed,” he said at the time.
“I personally do not like it. I mean, I’d rather, let’s say, confiscate a man’s wealth and bring him down to the level to which he’s brought us just to give him a taste of what life has been, what he’s done to us.”
According to George Weah, the Liberian president, Ghana, Liberia and Africa will miss a great leader.
“Liberia remembers his immense contribution to the attainment and sustainment of peace during our dark days of our own history,” he added in a tweet on his handle @GeorgeWeahOff.
The son of a Scottish farmer and a Ghanaian mother, Rawlings entered the Ghana Air Force, graduating in 1969.
In his tribute, former president Olusegun Obasanjo said he would ever remain indebted to Jerry Rawlings,
In a condolence letter to the people of Ghana, Obasanjo described Rawlings as a “reliable friend, ally and confidant” whom he said played a key role in achieving the objectives of the Africa Leadership Forum, (ALF), a non-governmental organisation he (Obasanjo) founded in 1988 to develop leadership capacities in Africa.
Obasanjo said Rawlings supported and accommodated his staff in relocating the organisation to Ghana at a time when Sanni Abacha, former military head of state, wanted to have them destroyed after he (Obasanjo) was arrested and imprisoned on a trumped-up charge of coup plotting 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,” he said.
“In mourning a man, who dedicated his life to the growth and development of Ghana, his country, in particular, and Africa as a whole. 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.”
Obasanjo added that Rawlings was “passionate about peace, security and leadership issues in Africa.”
