Former Ghanaian military and civilian leader, Jerry Rawlings, dies at 73

Posted by admin Africa & World Politics, Headlines, NNP News Thursday, November 12th, 2020

Jerry Rawlings

(NNP) Former Ghanaian military and civilian leader, Flight Lt. Jerry John Rawlings, has died at the age of 73. According to reports, he died of COVID-19 complications.

Rawlings first came to national prominence when he staged a failed coup on May 15, 1979. He was court-martialed and sentenced to death, only to emerge from prison to overthrow the military government. As the head of state, he instituted sweeping purge of past military leaders by executing almost all of his predecessors in 1979, accusing them of massive corruption and mismanagement of the economy.

He relinquished power the same year to a civilian government, but returned to overthrow the government on December 31, 1981, again citing rampant corruption. He ruled with an iron fist until 1992, when he resigned from the military and formed the National Democratic Party (NDP). He ran on the platform of his newly formed party as a civilian in the transition to civilian government.

After two-terms, the constitutional limit, he handed over to his vice president, Prof. Atta Mills, who won the presidential elections under the same NDP platform. Rawlings died on Thursday at Korle-bo Teaching Hospital in Accra. He was married to the former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings. They had five children.

-NewNigerianPoliticswp_posts