Former Ghana President Jerry Rawlings dead at 73

Rawlings has been on admission at Korle Bu for about a week for an undisclosed ailment but was reported ill after his mother’s burial about three weeks ago.

Born on June 22, 1947, the soldier-turned politician had 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.

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 control of power on December 31, 1981 as the Chairman of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC).

After two terms in office, the limit according to the Ghanaian Constitution, Rawlings endorsed his vice-president John Atta Mills as presidential candidate in 2000.