Jerry John Rawlings, is admired on the continent of Africa and internationally for his charisma, sincerity, drive, patriotism, and participatory leadership approach. He got involved in national politics as Ghana was in the throes of food shortages and a dire economy that had led to rampant inflation.
Starting out as a populist inspired by the left-wing policies of the Soviet Union and Cuba, he eventually turned to free-market economics to boost Ghana’s suffering economy. Rawlings was a contemporary and later a friend of Thomas Sankara “Africa’s Che Guevara,” the Marxist-Leninist revolutionary who came to power in Burkina Faso in 1983 at the age of 33.
On May 15, 1979, Jerry John Rawlings led a group of junior Ghanaian army officers in an attempted overthrow of the military government of General F.K. Akuffo and the Supreme Military Council. Rawlings, who insisted that he should be held responsible for the coup, was imprisoned and court-martialed.
Soon after, on June 4, he was released from prison by junior military officers in another takeover, seizing power in a successful “housecleaning exercise” that sought to purge the country of corrupt political and business leaders and recalibrate Ghana’s national moral compass.
Over the next three months, the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (under Rawlings’ leadership) executed eight senior military officers, including three former heads of state Akwasi Afrifa, Ignatius Acheampong, and Akuffo. The purge was supposed to clear the way for new democratic leadership under President Hilla Limann, a former diplomat. After initially handing power over to a civilian government, took back control of the country as a result of accusations of persistent corruption within the Limann administration. Rawlings’ “second coming” on December 31, 1981, was widely perceived as an indictment of the entire political class.
In 1992, Rawlings resigned from the Armed Forces, founded the National Democratic Congress a political party established on the ethos of social democracy and became the first president of the Fourth Republic. He was re-elected in 1996 for a further four years, and stepped down from the presidency in early 2001.
J.J. Rawlings initiated the Economic Recovery Programme (ERP) – a pragmatic economic programme – to reverse Ghana’s collapsed economy and subsequently, revive the financial health of the country so as to generate positive economic growth. The ERP’s successful implementation restored international confidence in Ghana.
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In October 2010, the African Union appointed Jerry John Rawlings as the AU High Representative for Somalia to “mobilize the continent and the rest of the international community to fully assume its responsibilities and contribute more actively to the quest for peace, security and reconciliation in Somalia.” President Rawlings has also been appointed Ambassador of the Pan-African Parliament in October 2011.
People would be spellbound as he gestured, swayed his body, growled, and sometimes joked while emphasising his key message of ending rife indiscipline and corruption.
“Probity, transparency and accountability” were buzzwords he used frequently to describe the standard he expected from public officeholders.
His critics argued that he fell short of these expectations. They accuse him of human rights abuses, including the execution of two former heads of state and army generals accused of economic sabotage, abuse of power to amass wealth and misuse of state funds.
Political opponents also accused his administration of being intolerant to dissent while human rights campaigners were outraged at the arrest and imprisonment of opposition leaders.
Personal life
Jerry John Rawlings, was born on 22 June 1947 in Accra, Gold Coast (now Ghana) to a Scottish father and Ghanaian mother. He is married to Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, whom he met while at Achimota School. They have three daughters: Zanetor Rawlings, Yaa Asantewaa Rawlings, Amina Rawlings; and one son, Kimathi Rawlin.
Education
President Rawlings was educated at Ghana’s prestigious Achimota School after which he enlisted in the Ghana Air Force. He was awarded the coveted “Speed Bird” Trophy for excelling in flight and airmanship.
Among other honorary degrees, he has received an honorary doctorate in Diplomacy and Development from Lincoln University Pennsylvania; an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Glasgow. He has also been honoured by Soko University in Japan.
On November 12, 2020, Rawlings died at the age of 73 in hospital in Accra, after a short illness.
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