Jerry Rawlings

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Jerry John Rawlings
Former President Jerry Rawlings Addressing the UN General Assembly
10th President of Ghana (1st President of Ghana's Fourth Republic)
In office January 7, 1993 – January 7, 2001
Vice President(s)	Kow Nkensen Arkaah (1993-1997) Prof. John Atta Mills (1997-2001)
Succeeded by	John Agyekum Kufuor
10th Head of state of Ghana
In office December 31, 1981 – January 7, 1993
Vice President(s)	None
Preceded by	Dr. Hilla Limann
Succeeded by	Fourth Republic established
8th Head of state of Ghana
In office June 4, 1979 – September 24, 1979
Preceded by	General Fred Akuffo
Succeeded by	Dr. Hilla Limann
Born	June 22, 1947 Keta, Ghana
Political party	military - AFRC (1979) military - PNDC(1981-1993) National Democratic Congress 1992-
Spouse	Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings
Profession	Fighter Pilot
Religion	Catholic

Flight Lieutenant (Retired) Jerry John Rawlings (born Jeremiah Rawlings John June 22, 1947 in Accra) was twice the head of state of Ghana. He first appeared on the Ghanaian political scene on May 15, 1979 when an unsuccesful coup d'état he led resulted in his arrest, imprisonment, and a death sentence. But before he could be executed, his friends in the Ghana military led by Major Boakye Djan overthrew the then military government of General Fred Akuffo in a bloody coup on June 4, 1979. Major Boakye-Djan and his men also set Rawlings free from prison, and installed him as head of the new government - the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC). At the time of the coup, Ghana was already far into the process of returning to civilian rule and general elections were already scheduled. Hence, the AFRC was forced to hand over power to Dr. Hilla Limann who won the popular vote in the election to establish the Third Republic. Less than two years later, Dr. Limann's civilian and constitutional government was overthrown again by Jerry Rawlings on December 31, 1981. He then installed the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) regime. So in all Jerry Rawlings performed three coup d'etat in Ghana. Two of which were successful.

Rawlings ruled Ghana under the most iron-fisted dictatorship that the country ever witnessed. The worst human rights abuses in Ghana's history occurred under this regime.^{[citation needed]} Snippets of the gross human rights abuses and the tortures that occurred during this period was highlighted during a National Reconcilliation exercise that was conducted recently.

In the early 1990s internal pressures led by a group identified with the Danquah-Busia tradition coupled with external pressures from Ghana's development partners forced the PNDC dictatorship to accept constitutional rule. Mr. Rawlings on many platforms professed his hatred for multiparty democracy saying that it was alien to the Ghanaian people. But as elections drew near, he switched from being a military dictator, retired from the military, then run and won in the 1992 elections which the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) claimed was a stolen verdict although international observers judged the elections largely free and fair.

After two terms in office, barred by the constitution from standing in any election, he anointed his vice-president John Atta-Mills as his choice to replace him as President. Ghanaians rejected his choice in the 2000 election by voting for the opposition NPP's candidate, John Kufuor.

Rawlings is married to Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings and has four children: three girls and a boy. He is the joint recipient of the 1993 World Hunger Award.

Contents 1 Background 2 Military career 3 Military coup 4 Democratic president 5 Achievements and criticism of the Rawlings regime 6 Quotes 7 Notes 8 External links

[edit] Background

Rawlings is the product of a secret, six-year love affair between Scottish pharmacist James Ramsay John and his Ghanaian mistress, Madam Victoria Agbotui who is from Dzelukope, near Keta in the Volta Region. Apparently, his father, Mr. John, had migrated to the then Gold Coast in 1935 with his wife Mary to work for the United Africa Company (UAC). Mary was Mr. John's childhood sweetheart from Castle Douglas in Scotland. Six years after Mr. John had arrived in Ghana (that is in 1941) he started a secret relationship with Madam Agbotui then a caterer at the State House in Ghana. This relationship went on for six (6) years. It ended in 1947. That was the year Rawlings was born (June 22nd, 1947 to be precise). Unfortunately, Mr. John refused to acknowledge Rawlings as his son - right up until his death in 1982 at the age of 75, for fear of rocking his marriage to Mary, who died in 1998. In order not to let her son lose his Scottish heritage, Madam Agbotui named him after his father as Jeremiah Rawlings John. This name was later changed to Jerry John Rawlings following a clerical error when the young Rawlings signed up at the Royal Air Force (RAF) for advanced flight training. She also worked hard and projected a career as a medical doctor for her son and enrolled him at the prestigious Achimota School. Unfortunately, Rawlings' disciplinary problems prevented him from completing his General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level. In fact, he admitted that his mother's strictness was part of what made him a rebellious kid. He consequently 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. For his advanced flight lessons he was sent to the RAF for training in the early 70s. Even during his time in training, he still desired to trace his roots and to meet his father. Mr. John and his wife Mary had by then moved back to Scotland in 1960 and settled down at Dalbeattie. So he (Rawlings) took a leave of absence from the RAF to track down his father. He had heard that his father was working in a chemist's shop in Dalbeattie. When he got there he asked an old man behind the desk if he knew his father (Mr. John) and the old man replied that Mr. John had moved away a long time before. Jerry's suspicion grew on the trip back to London that he had actually been speaking with his father in the store. Today, Rawlings still has distant relatives in Scotland. His relatives there eventually learnt of the Family-Secret that Uncle Jimmy (Mr. James Ramsay John) had kept from them. One of his cousins in Scotland is Tony Barbour now aged about 60. In 2000, Tony was still a secondary school teacher who lived with his wife and two children in a modest Victorian terraced house in the centre of Dumfries. Tony's mother, Betty, was Mr. John's sister. In other words, Betty is Rawlings' Aunt.

[edit] Military career

In March, 1968, he was posted to Takoradi in the Western Region to continue his studies. He graduated in January 1969, and was commissioned a Pilot Officer, winning the coveted "Speed Bird Trophy" as the best cadet in flying and airmanship. He earned the rank of Flight Lieutenant (Flt. Lt.) in April 1978.

During his service with the Ghanaian Air Force, Rawlings perceived a deterioration of discipline and morale, reflecting the corruption of the Supreme Military Council (SMC) at that time. 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. He read widely and discussed social and political ideas with a growing circle of like-minded friends and colleagues.

On May 28, 1979, Rawlings, together with six others who were arrested earlier, appeared before a General Court Martial in Accra, charged with leading a mutiny of junior officers and enlisted men of the Ghanaian Armed Forces on May 15, 1979. There was strong public reaction, especially after his statement had been read in court, explaining the social injustices that had prompted him to act^{[citation needed]}. The ranks of the Armed Forces, in particular, expressed deep sympathy with his stated aims.

[edit] Military coup

When he was scheduled for another court appearance on 4 June 1979, Rawlings was sprung from custody.^[1] With the support of both the military and civilians, he led a bloody coup that ousted the Supreme Military Council from office and brought the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) to power.

As one of his first acts in power, Rawlings ordered the execution of some former military dictators. Ignatius Kutu Acheamphong, Akwasi Afrifa, and Fred Akuffo were executed. Five other generals—Joy Amedume, Boakye, Roger Felli, Kotei, and Utuka—were also put to death. Rawlings is also rumoured to have been involved in the killings of Supreme Court Justices Kwadjo Agyei Agyepong, Frederick Sarkodie, and Cecilia Koranteng Addo, as well as a military officer, Major Sam Acquah. However, a national Truth and Reconciliation Commission, chaired by Supreme Court Justice G.E.K. Aikins, absolved Rawlings of any involvement.

The AFRC, under the chairmanship of Rawlings, carried out a much wider "house-cleaning exercise" aimed at purging the armed forces and society at large of corruption and graft as well as restoring a sense of moral responsibility and accountability in public life. This "house-cleaning exercise" included (but not exclusively) very suspicious disappearances of many people who were never seen again.^{[citation needed]} Meanwhile, following a programme already set in motion before the June 4 uprising, the ruling junta organized free general elections. On 24 September 1979, the AFRC handed over power to a civilian government led by the People's National Party (PNP), under President Hilla Limann.

Limann's administration was cut short on 31 December 1981, when Rawlings deposed him in another coup. A Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC), composed of both civilian and military members, was established with Rawlings as Chairman. In his second tenure in power, Rawlings' policies became more centrist, and he began to advocate free-market reforms. However, despite the country's economic success, the Ghanaian government was criticized both at home and abroad for committing numerous abuses of human rights.

It is impossible to make a simple value judgment about the presidency of Jerry Rawlings. During his long tenure as head of state his government was accused of human rights abuses including unfair detainment and intimidation.^{[citation needed]} In the early 1990s, the economy of Ghana was still not performing as well as it had in the early 1970s, and ethnic unrest was on the rise. On the other hand, the basic needs of the citizens were being met, many of them by domestic products, and the economy showed steady improvement with guidance from the International Monetary Fund. And Rawlings's reputation on foreign policy received a boost when he acted as a key figure in a mediated peace settlement between factions in nearby Liberia, a nation burdened by five years of civil war.

[edit] Democratic president

Citizens began demanding a more democratic form of government as the 1990s progressed. Rawlings answered this demand by forming a National Commission for Democracy (NCD), empowered to hold regional debates and formulate some suggestions for a transition to multi-party democracy. Although opposition groups complained that the NCD was too closely associated with the PNDC, the commission continued its work through 1991. In March of that year the NCD released a report recommending the election of an executive president, the establishment of a national assembly, and the creation of a prime minister post. The PNDC accepted the report, and the following year Rawlings legalized political parties--with the provision that none could use names that had been used before--and set a timetable for presidential elections.

When these presidential elections were held in 1992, Rawlings stood as the candidate for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the successor party to the PNDC. Although his opponents were given access to television and newspaper coverage--and limits to the freedom of the press had been lifted--no single candidate could match the popularity of the sitting head of state. Election returns on November 3, 1992, revealed that Rawlings had won 58.3 percent of the vote, for a landslide victory. Foreign observers declared the voting to be "free and fair."

Almost immediately, the leaders of the country's opposition parties claimed that the presidential election was not fair, and that widespread abuses had occurred. The leaders encouraged their followers to boycott subsequent parliamentary elections, with the result being that NDC candidates won 189 of 200 seats in the new parliament. Rawlings was therefore accorded a four-year term backed by an elected assembly of supporters for his platform. Answering questions of polling place irregularities, he promised to initiate a new voter registration program to be completed in time for elections in 1996.

Rawlings retired from the Ghanaian Armed Forces on September 14, 1992. He became a member and flag bearer of the NDC. He and the NDC were elected in 1992 and 1996. These victories were decried as fraud-laden by Rawlings' opponents, in the book Stolen Verdict published by the opposition, which chronicles instances of vote rigging and acts of intimidation and fear. Per constitutional mandate, Rawlings' term of office ended in 2001; he retired in 2001 and was succeeded by John Kufuor, his main opponent in the 1996 elections. Kufuor succeeded in defeating Rawlings' vice-president John Atta-Mills in the 2000 vote, and would do so again in 2004.

Although Rawlings did not complete any tertiary education (he completed Achimota Secondary School) and had only an Air Force graduate diploma, he appointed several technocrats such as Dr. Kwesi Botchwey, Ekwow Spio-Garbrah and Dr. Obed Yao Asamoah to important government positions.

"President Rawlings now faces his toughest test yet--that of shedding the image of the radical military dictator and becoming a democratic constitutional ruler able to create a climate of tolerance," Ruby Ofori suggested in Africa Report.^{[citation needed]} In defense of his regime, Rawlings told Africa Report: "It is difficult to be objective without seeming to be rather vain about our achievements and without going into numerous little details. But broadly speaking and allowing for the inevitable teething problems involved in instituting and testing out new systems, we can justifiably claim that among our ordinary men and women there is an increase in confidence, self-respect, and sense of responsibility, as well as a practical understanding of the basic purpose for and machinery of government.... People are no longer intimidated by ... problems, economic, social, or environmental, but are ready to tackle them."^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Achievements and criticism of the Rawlings regime

• Achieved political and economic stability in a region rife with conflicts, including wars in Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire, Togo, Guinea Bissau and Sierra Leone.^{[citation needed]}
• Created 110 districts through non-partisan district level elections. Decisions on education, infrastructure, and healthcare all were decentralized and policy-making powers were delegated to the districts.^{[citation needed]}
• Oversaw so-called Public Tribunals, which were criticized for their "disregard of normal juridical procedures".^[2]

[edit] Quotes

• "I don't know any law and I don't understand economics, but I know it when my stomach is empty."^[1]
• "I don't fear God, I love him."

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• BBC report on Rawlings legacy
• countrydata.com report from 1994
• [http://www.answers.com/topic/jerry-rawlings.com

Preceded by Fred Akuffo	Ghanaian Head of State 1979	Succeeded by Hilla Limann
Preceded by Hilla Limann	President of Ghana 1981–2001	Succeeded by John Kufuor

Presidents/Military Chairmans of Ghana
Kwame Nkrumah • Joseph Arthur Ankrah * • Akwasi Afrifa * • Nii Amaa Ollennu † • Edward Akufo-Addo • Ignatius Kutu Acheamphong * • Fred Akuffo * • Jerry Rawlings* • Hilla Limann • Jerry Rawlings • John Kufuor *military     †interim

Fourth Republic established