Former Ghanaian charismatic leader, Flight-Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings, died recently following complications from the COVID-19 pandemic. The former Ghanaian military officer and politician was said to have exhibited the symptoms of the disease after his mother’s funeral some weeks ago. He was later taken to Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra, Ghana where he died at the age of 73.
In his death, Ghana and indeed Africa lost a great patriot and fearless leader. In his initial revolutionary years, popular Ghanaian opinion was that his JJ signified “Junior Jesus.” He was elevated to that kind of saintly and transcendental level on account of his giant strides in rebuilding Ghana.
He was thought to be totally incorruptible and absolutely patriotic in his decisions. Rawlings was perhaps Ghana’s first populist leader before populism became the instruments of wannabe dictators and demagogues on the continent. He was a self-declared Marxist and for a couple of years experimented with the well-known transformation tools, such as long harangues against corruption and decadence, popular workers’ committees, and workers’ defence councils to oversee the country’s factories and their outputs.
At first, he was a wiry, hungry-looking, young Flight-Lieutenant, which changed when he became used to the trappings of power and the good life. Unlike other military officers in Africa who continued to promote themselves even when they no longer performed military duties, Rawlings remained a Flight-Lieutenant from the beginning to the end of his stewardship in the apex of Ghana’s leadership.
In 1979, when he staged his first coup d’état, everything went wrong and he was immediately arrested, tried and sentenced to death. He was awaiting his turn to face the firing squad when his colleagues arrived to spring him out of prison and made him to lead a second coup against a military government. Among his misdeeds was the execution of eight military officers including three former heads of state, Generals Akwasi Afrifa, Ignatius Acheampong and the then incumbent Fred Akuffo.
Keeping them alive, he argued, meant they would continue to destabilise and corrupt the system because of their influence. As he got older, however, he thought better of the executions: “I personally do not like it. I mean, I’d rather, let’s say, confiscate a man’s wealth and bring him down to the level to which he brought us just to give him a taste of what life has been, what he’s done to us.”
The executions did not end with the eight officers. There was the so-called “house cleaning exercise” which involved the execution of more than 300 Ghanaians, including three justices of the Ghanaian Supreme Court, Justice Cecillia Koranteng-Addow, Frederick Sarkodie, and Kwadjo Agyei Agyepong. Unlike the 1979 executions, these persons were abducted and killed in secret and it is unclear who was behind the murders. Joachim Amartey Kwei and four others were convicted for the murder of the justices and were executed in 1982.
After 112 days, Rawlings was able to hand over power to the newly elected government headed by Hilla Liman on September 24, 1979. Two years later, he overthrew the Liman government due to its weakness and the country’s deteriorating economy.
Rawling’s experiment to reorganise Ghana commenced at his second coming and he formed the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) to take Ghana to the Marxist El-Dorado. Those were the days he made long speeches, denouncing the corrupt, the exploitative business people but then the economy appeared to get worse and he had the presence of mind to change course and attempt economic reforms in the opposite direction.
During those difficult days, between 1983 and 1987, he survived at least five attempted coups and had to clamp down on opposition leaders, including journalists, who were arrested and imprisoned. These measures outraged human rights campaigners around the world.
Regardless of his shortcomings, Rawlings redefined democracy and governance in Ghana. He made Ghanaians to own the government and means of production. He made Ghanaians to be more productive and self-reliant. He made political leaders to be accountable to the people. He popularised local products, especially the Kente cloth. He transformed and sanitised the politics of Ghana by building strong democratic institutions. Rawlings unarguably set Ghana on the path of economic growth and made it attractive to foreign investors and tourists.
He was a role model and an exemplary leader. He would be remembered for his messianic leadership. There is no doubt that many Ghanaians and indeed Africans will miss him. We commiserate with the people and government of Ghana on the great loss. Adieu JJ Rawlings.