Former President of Ghana, Mr Jerry Rawlings, is dead. He is said to have died Thursday morning at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) in with a suspected covid-19. Chairman Rawlings was 73 years old.
Just last month, October 24, the former president buried his mother who died at the age of 104.
Jerry John Rawlings was born in Accra on 22nd June 1947, to a Ghanaian mother from Dzelukope, near Keta, in the Volta Region, and a Scottish father.
He was educated at Achimota School where he obtained his General Certificate of Education ‘O’ Level in 1966.
He enlisted as a Flight Cadet in the Ghana Air Force in August 1967 and was subsequently selected for officer cadet training at the Ghana Military Academy and Training School, Teshie, in Accra.
In March 1968, he was posted to Takoradi in the Western Region to continue his course.
As a former Ghanaian military leader and subsequent politician, Mr Rawlings led a military junta from 1981 until 1992, and then served two terms as the democratically elected President of Ghana from January 7, 1993 to January 6, 2001.
Mr Rawlings initially came to power 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 May 15, 1979, just five weeks before scheduled democratic elections were due to take place.
After initially handing power over to a civilian government, he took back control of the country on December 31, 1981 as the Chairman of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC).
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Ghanamatters.com
