Mahama chairs crucial NDC meeting over death of Rawlings

John Mahama, flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), will today (13 November 2020) hold an emergency meeting with the leadership of the opposition party following the death of the founder of the party, Jerry John Rawlings.

Rawlings passed away on Thursday at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital after a short illness at age 73, his daughter Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings announced in an official statement.

The President, Akufo-Addo, has declared a one-week national mourning and ordered all flags to fly at half-mast.

The two main political parties – NDC and the governing New Patriotic Party – have suspended their campaigns, at least for the next seven days.

A statement issued and signed by Mahama said: “I arrived in Accra tonight, following the suspension of my campaign in the Ashanti Region on hearing the news of the death of our party Founder and former President, Jerry John Rawlings.

“I will chair an urgent meeting of the Political Committee of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Friday to among others consider the next steps towards joining the family, government and the people of Ghana to honour the memory of our former President.”

Mahama extended his heartfelt condolence to the family of the late Ghanaian leader, adding that this is the time to uphold the values he stood for.

“Now, more than ever, we have a sacred duty to uphold and defend the values of the 4th Republic that President Rawlings held so dear – peace, democracy, probity and accountability, respect for human rights, freedom of the press, tolerance and inclusion. In doing this, we honour the man who brought us the gift of a free and democratic society.”

Biography of Rawlings

Born on 22 June 1947, Rawlings attended Achimota Secondary School, where he acquired an O’ level certificate in education in 1966. In August 1967 he enlisted as a flight cadet in the Ghana Air Force, earning selection for training at the Ghana Military Academy in Teshie, Accra.

He moved in March 1968 to Takoradi in the Western Region, where he continued pursuing his course. In January 1969 he passed out as a commissioned pilot.

His dedication and hard work earned him the rank of flight lieutenant in 1978. He had a good rapport with his colleagues and showed the highest efficiency in his line of work.

In the air force

During his time in the Ghana Air Force, he became increasingly angered by what he saw as the general moral decay and decline of discipline in Ghana.

Like many junior officers in the armed forces, he blamed the national decline on the corruption in the ruling Supreme Military Council (SMC). The SMC, they reasoned, was the body in charge of ensuring that Ghana succeeded in its efforts to promote development.

His diligence as a junior officer earned him promotion, giving him the opportunity to associate with the more privileged echelons of society.

He became ever more indignant about the social injustices that were the commonly accepted way of life in Ghana and began to mobilise among his fellow officers. He was regarded with great unease by the SMC, which began to hound him.

First and second comings

Rawlings began to hatch a political and social scheme with a growing circle of colleagues and friends who were in agreement with his plans, and at the same time read widely. This awareness-raising culminated in his first coup attempt of May 1979, followed by a successful coup d’état on 4 June 1979 in which friends and supporters freed him from jail.

Among the early actions of the new Armed Forces Revolutionary Council government were the executions of eight senior military officers, including three former heads of state.

He stood down after democratic elections that year which were won by Hilla Limann’s People’s National Party (PNP). He staged a second coup on 31 December 1981, however, ousting Limann and launching the self-styled revolution out of which his Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) was born.

The 31 December Revolution was followed by in-camera military tribunals and a slew of extra-judicial killings, notably the murders in 1982 of three senior judges and a retired military officer.

In 1992, under some pressure from within and outside Ghana, including international financial institutions, he returned Ghana to civilian rule, introducing the Fourth Republican constitution and standing as the presidential candidate of the new party that he founded, the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

He served two terms as a civilian president, handing over on 7 January 2001 to John Agyekum Kufuor of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), who defeated John Evans Atta Mills, Rawlings’s chosen successor as leader of the NDC.

Rawlings continued to play the role of senior statesman and both guiding light and critic of the NDC.

He is survived by his wife of 43 years, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, the leader of the National Democratic Party, three daughters and one son. His eldest child, Zanetor Rawlings, is the NDC MP for Klottey Korle in Accra.

Fred Dzakpata

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