Jerry Rawlings

Jerry John Rawlings (22 June 194712 November 2020) was a Ghanaian military officer, aviator and politician who led the country for a brief period in 1979, and then from 1981 to 2001.

Rawlings was born as Jerry Rawlings John on Sunday, 22 June 1947 in Accra, Ghana, to Victoria Agbotui, an Anlo Ewe from Dzelukope, Keta, and James Ramsey John, a British chemist from Castle Douglas in Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland.

Rawlings attended Achimota School and a military academy at Teshie.

Rawlings was married to Nana Konadu Agyeman, whom he met while at Achimota College.

They had three daughters: Zanetor Rawlings, Yaa Asantewaa Rawlings, Amina Rawlings; and one son, Kimathi Rawlings.

Junior Agogo was the nephew of Rawlings.

Rawlings finished his secondary education at Achimota College in 1967.

He joined the Ghana Air Force shortly afterwards; on his application, the military switched his surname John and his middle name Rawlings.

In March 1968, he was posted to Takoradi, in Ghana's Western Region, to continue his studies.

He graduated in January 1969, and was commissioned as a pilot officer, winning the coveted "Speed Bird Trophy" as the best cadet in flying the Su-7 ground attack supersonic jet aircraft as he was skilled in aerobatics.

Rawlings grew discontented with Ignatius Kutu Acheampong's government, which had come to power through a coup in January 1972.

Acheampong was accused not only of corruption, but also of maintaining Ghana's dependency on pre-colonial powers, in a situation which led to economic decline and impoverishment.

Rawlings was part of the Free Africa Movement, an underground movement of military officers who wanted to unify Africa through a series of coups.

He earned the rank of flight lieutenant in April 1978.

During his service with the Ghana Air Force, Rawlings perceived a deterioration in discipline and morale due to corruption in the Supreme Military Council (SMC).

As promotion brought him into contact with the privileged classes and their social values, his view of the injustices in society hardened.

He was thus regarded with some unease by the SMC.

Rawlings came to power in Ghana as a flight lieutenant of the Ghana Air Force following a coup d'état in 1979.

Prior to that, he led an unsuccessful coup attempt against the ruling military government on Tuesday, 15 May 1979, just five weeks before scheduled democratic elections were due to take place.

After the 1979 coup, he involved himself with the student community of the University of Ghana, where he developed a more leftist ideology through reading and discussion of social and political ideas.

On Tuesday, 15 May 1979, five weeks prior to civilian elections, Rawlings and six other soldiers staged a coup against the government of General Fred Akuffo, but failed and were arrested by the military.

Rawlings was publicly sentenced to death in a General Court Martial and imprisoned, although his statements on the social injustices that motivated his actions won him civilian sympathy.

While awaiting execution, Rawlings was sprung from custody on Monday, 4 June 1979 by a group of soldiers.

Claiming that the government was corrupt beyond redemption and that new leadership was required for Ghana's development, he led the group in a coup to oust the Akuffo Government and Supreme Military Council.

Shortly afterwards, Rawlings established and became the Chairman of a 15-member Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), primarily composed of junior officers.

He and the AFRC ruled for 112 days and arranged the execution by firing squad of eight military officers, including Generals Kotei, Joy Amedume, Roger Felli, and Utuka, as well as the three former Ghanaian heads of state; Acheampong, Akuffo, and Akwasi Afrifa.

These executions were dramatic events in the history of Ghana, which had previously suffered few instances of political violence.

Rawlings later implemented a much wider "house-cleaning exercise" involving the killings and abduction of over 300 Ghanaians.

Elections were held on time shortly after the coup.

On Monday, 24 September 1979, power was peacefully handed over by Rawlings to President Hilla Limann, whose People's National Party (PNP) had the support of Nkrumah's followers.

However, unlike the 1979 executions, these persons were abducted and killed in secret and it is unclear who was behind their murders, though Joachim Amartey Kwei and four others were convicted of murdering the Justices and Acquah, and were executed in 1982.

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

Two years later, on 31 December 1981 Rawlings ousted President Hilla Limann in a coup d'état, claiming that civilian rule was weak and the country's economy was deteriorating.

The killings of the Supreme Court justices (Cecilia Koranteng-Addow, Frederick Sarkodie, and Kwadjo Agyei Agyepong), military officers Major Sam Acquah and Major Dasana Nantogmah also occurred during the second military rule of Rawlings.

He led a military junta until 1992, and then served two terms as the democratically elected president of Ghana.

In 1992, Rawlings 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 a presidential candidate in 2000.

Rawlings served as the African Union envoy to Somalia.

He died in 2020 at age 73 and was accorded a state funeral.