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ACCRA, Ghana|SHIFTMEDIA|Ghana’s former leader Jerry Rawlings, who seized power twice in military coups but went on to bring democratic rule to the West African country, died on Thursday at the age of 73, a source at the presidency said.
Rawlings overthrew then-ruler General Frederick Akuffo in 1979 when he was an army lieutenant. He handed over power to civilian rule soon after but then led another coup two years later, decrying the government’s corruption and weak leadership.
From 1981 to 1993, Rawlings ruled as chairman of a joint military-civilian government. In 1992 he was elected president under a new constitution, taking up that office the following year and serving two terms before handing over power to John Kufuor who succeeded him in 2001.
Reports from Ghana say that the former president died in hospital in the capital, Accra, after a short illness. Sources in Ghana gave contradicting information regarding the cause of his death with some saying he died of a heart attack while others said he died of COVID 19 though this is yet to be confirmed.
Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo has ordered for flags to be flown at half-mast as the nations mourns the fallen leader.
Most West African presidents have sent condolence messages to Ghana and its people.
The son of a Scottish farmer and a Ghanaian mother, Rawlings entered the Ghana Air Force, graduating in 1969.
He executed several former heads of state and army generals for corruption, but expressed some regret about the killings. Later the execution by firing squad of Supreme Court judges also left a stain on his legacy.
“I am still aware that we in Ghana do not like bloodshed,” he said at the time.
“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’s brought us just to give him a taste of what life has been, what he’s done to us.”
Two years later he led a second coup and was the head of a military junta until introducing multi-party elections in 1992, when he was first elected president. He stepped down in 2001 after serving two terms.
He began his time in power as a committed socialist, but later introduced free-market reforms.
He ushered in a long period of political stability, that continues in Ghana today, after a tumultuous series of coups in the 1960s and 1970s.
In later years, Rawlings campaigned for African nations to have their international debts written off.
In 2010 it was announced he had been named as the African Union envoy to Somalia.
His legacy is controversial and he divided opinion domestically and in the wider world.
His detractors accused him of torture, corruption and worse. To his supporters, he brought order, security and prosperity to Ghana. (SOURCE BBC)
