[unorthodox]

as a proud ghanaian who lived in ghana for the 18 years of my life, as almost all my life was spent under this great man's leadership, i've just realised what a great job he did for our country, yes he wasnt perfect, but who his. when you consider the war and poverty plaguing most of west africa, rawlings maintained stability and peace in our country amidst all the chaos.

i want all ghanians and also all africans to come in and show thier appreciation to this great man.

he's also the best looking african leader by a long mile(no homo)

Lieu. RTD. Jerry John Rawlings (born 1947) is a longtime Ghanaian politician who served as the country's president twice. He has been called a "benevolent dictator" by his admirers and a tyrant by others. Initially during his time in office, he committed his government to populist reforms such as socialist economics and anti-corruption measures from which he was to deviate later in his rule.

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 could not obtained his General Certificate of Education 'O' Level due to his disciplinary problems. 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. He passed out in January, 1969, as a commissioned Pilot Officer. He won the coveted "Speed Bird Trophy" as the best cadet in flying and airmanship. He earned the rank of Flight-Lieutenant in April, 1978. He was an efficient officer with a close rapport with his men.






Contents[hide]

• 1 Rawlings as a Military Leader
• 2 Rawlings as the President of the Third Republic
• 3 Achievements of Rawlings regime
• 4 Criticisms of Rawlings regime
• 5 Quotes

//



[edit]
1979.

During his service with the Ghana Air Force, he percieved that there was a deterioration of discipline and morale, reflecting the corruption of the regime of the Supreme Military Council (SMC) at that time. As promotion brought him into contact with the privileged classes and their social values, his perception of the injustices in society was sharpened. 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, Flt.-Lt. Rawlings, together with six others were arrested, appeared before a General Court Martial in Accra, charged with leading a mutiny of junior officers and men of the Ghana Armed Forces on 15th May, 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. The ranks of the Armed Forces, in particular, expressed deep sympathy with his stated aims.

When he was scheduled for another court appearance on 4th June, 1979, Flt.-Lt. Rawlings was sprung from custody. With the support of both military and civilians, he led a revolt, which decisively ousted the Supreme Military Council from office and brought the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) into being.

The AFRC, under the chairmanship of Flt.Lt. Rawlings, carried out a "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 the principles of accountability and probity in public life. Innocent lives were lost, others based of rumours and personal hatred. Ghana witnessed its own "reign of terror." Meanwhile, following the programme already set in motion before the 4th June Uprising for civilian administration, general elections were held. On 24th September, 1979, the AFRC handed over to the civilian Government of the People's National Party (PNP) under President Hilla Limann.

He came to power after a bloody military coup organised by his supporters on June 4, 1979. Shortly after that coup, Rawlings ordered the execution of all former military dictators. Acheampong, Afrifa and Akuffo were executed for various abuses during their respective terms. Five other Generals—Amedume, Boakye, Felli, Kotei and Utuka—were also executed at this time, and whose crimes are unclear. There were also rumours that he was behind the execution of the standing supreme court judges of the time, who were forcibly taken from their homes and executed in cold blood; however, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (chaired by Supreme Court Justice G.E.K. Aikins) absolved Rawlings of any connection to these killings. After about 4 months in office, Rawlings' junta, under the banner of the AFRC, organized free elections and handed power to the elected president Hilla Limann - in hindsight considered as ineffective and merely a stooge for the AFRC establishment.

However, Limann's administration was cut short on December 31, 1981 when Rawlings deposed him in a coup. After his second coup Rawlings' policies became more centrist, as he began to advocate free-market reforms. However, despite the country's relative economic success, the Ghanaian government was criticized both at home and abroad for committing numerous abuses of human rights. On 31st December, 1981, Flt. Lt. Rawlings led a section of the Armed Forces to overthrow the PNP administration. A Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC), composed of both civilian and military members, was established, with Flt-Lt. J.J. Rawlings as the Chairman.

[edit]
September 14, 1992. He became a member and flag bearer of the National Democratic Congress (Ghana) (NDC). He and the NDC were elected to power in 1992 and 1996, in so-called "free and fair elections". Stolen Verdict is book published by the opposition which chronicle instances of vote rigging and acts of intimidation and fear. Following the requirements of the constitution, his term of office ended in the year 2000 and he retired in 2001 and was succeeded by John Kufuor, his main opponent in the 1996 election who defeated Rawlings's vice-president John Atta-Mills in 2000 (and would do so again in 2004).

Though he could not complete High School diploma and has 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 positions during his tenure.

Rawlings is married to Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings with whom he has four children - three girls and a boy. He is the joint recipient of the 1993 World Hunger Prize. He holds an Honorary Doctor of Law Degree from Medgar Evers College, City University of New York and Lincoln University Doctorate Degree for Diplomacy and Development.

[edit]
Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire, Togo, Guinea Bissau and Sierra Leone).[/list]

• Created 110 districts through non-partisan district level elections. Education, infrastructure developments and healthcare all devolved to the district level. Annual government subvention by law goes to the district — unthinkable in many other African countries.

• Absorbed hundreds of thousands of Ghanaians living on Nigeria who were expelled. Housed them at El -Wak stadium in 1983 and then moved them to their family homes. Most other economies, including even advanced ones such as Germany saw their economies suffer when they reunified with integrated citizens (for example German reunification).

• Built first ever memorials to Kwame Nkrumah and W.E.B. DuBois.

• Followed an independent foreign policy (unlike the pro-West policies of the PP and NPP or the pro-East policies of the CPP).

• Returned Ghana to democratic rule in 1992, after a public referendum by a wide majority approved a new constitution. Neither Nigeria, Iraq, Togo, or Cote d'Ivoire were able to achieve this feat (in Nigeria two governments were overthrown during this period).

• Passed the value added tax (VATR of 10%) to secure government revenue base, which today funds most government public expenditures.

• Passed the Ghana Educational Trust Fund (GET Fund) that is today educating millions of Ghanaians.

• First Ghanaian President in 20 years to be received on a state visit of the US.

• Exapanded electricity to Northern parts of Ghana - hitherto ignored by ruling elites since 1957.

• Both Bill Clinton and Queen Elizabeth II visited Ghana during Rawlings tenure to highlight the successes of the country.

• The NDC’s agricultural policy and programme 1994-2000 resulted in the recognition of Ghana’s Food Production Index of 148% for 1995-1997 as “the third highest achievement in the record after Jordan (157%) and China (156%) in the World Bank’s “1999-2000 Development Report.â€?

• Contributed immensely towards dispute resolution and peace keeping in several of the unstable countries in the West African sub-region and beyond.

[edit]
Qadaffi, Burkina Faso's Thomas Sankara and Palestine's Yasser Arafat. However, others point out that Arafat was a Nobel Peace Laureate.[/list][edit]
"Africa Needs People Power", The Guardian, July 14, 2005.[/list]





Preceded by:
Fred Akuffo
President of Ghana
1979
Succeeded by:
Hilla Limann

Preceded by:
Hilla Limann
President of Ghana
1981–2001
Succeeded by:
John Kufuor
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Rawlings"

Categories: 1947 births | Ghanaian politicians | Living people

strife surrounding us.

[DtotheJ]

I'm not from Ghana(that I know of)..but I give Rawlings his props.



Ghana has ben the most stable country in west africa...and thanks in large part to his efforts....it is the main tourist destination for African americans or other diasporic Africans who want to vacation in the motherland.



Not knowing much of his politics, what impressed me the most was several years ago when Clinton visited a few countries in Africa. Rawlings was the ONLY leader whpo met Clinton wearing his traditional cultural attire....not a western power suit....I understood the symbolism...



EVERY other leader was wearing dark colored business suit when they welcomed Clinton.



Have a few ghanian friends....they say that rawlings(weird last name for african leader, right?) is biracial..part scottish..hence the name....and has no fear or great intimidation of white people that some blacks have....he was treated poorly by his white father's family...

[DtotheJ]

[Aryek]

Yes, lets celebrate the man who had thousands of people murdered just so he could stay in office. It's not because of Rawlings that Ghana never had an ethnic warfare. If you know anything about Ghanian history, you'll know that even before the time of European invasion, the Akanes were involved in a process of bringing all of the various tribes together. There wasn't much ethnic tension to begin with Rawlings took over so what exactly did he do to keep Ghanians together besides make whole families disappear overnight?

[Mezmerized]

DtotheJ wrote:

Have a few ghanian friends....they say that rawlings(weird last name for african leader, right?) is biracial..part scottish..hence the name....and has no fear or great intimidation of white people that some blacks have....he was treated poorly by his white father's family...

AHHH,if i hear that line one more time! A lot of people who say this areactually saying more about their OWN fear of white people than anything. They PRESUME that for one tostand up to white people, one must be a little closerin look to them or one whohas some kind of relations with them. This leaves the African to live in perfect ignorance and fear of facing up to his problems becauseof fear of the big white massaup there.

The majority of Africanswhom i have talked to about Rawlings ALWAYS mentions the fact that he mixed race first before they even say a word about any good thing he did. No wonderour proud Ghana is fast turning into coconut central because all of a sudden mixing with whites doesn't seemat all that bad....KMT

Quite frankly his appointment says more about our loosementality than anything else(and i am not refering this in regards to any good or bad he did....i am just looking at it from the angle of how desperate a country of millions of African had to wait for a half white man to come and tell black men what to do in their own country)

[Mezmerized]

unorthodox wrote:

he's also the best looking african leader by a long mile(no homo)

ROTF....that has to be one of the funniest thing i've heard for a long...long time. Anyways, if we are being shallow and silly,i'm sure Thomas Sankara should get the honour of the best looking African leader....ever...according to moi ofcourse..

And here is one with Rawlings

[DtotheJ]

Mezmerized wrote:

DtotheJ wrote:

[DtotheJ]

Aryek wrote:

Yes, lets celebrate the man who had thousands of people murdered just so he could stay in office. It's not because of Rawlings that Ghana never had an ethnic warfare. If you know anything about Ghanian history, you'll know that even before the time of European invasion, the Akanes were involved in a process of bringing all of the various tribes together. There wasn't much ethnic tension to begin with Rawlings took over so what exactly did he do to keep Ghanians together besides make whole families disappear overnight?

OK, well that's the difference between the views of a person FROM a particular place and an outsider.

As an outsider, I can only coment on what I've read and seen footage of.....if you are from Ghana or are ghanaian, you have infinitely more info and experience living under Rawlings.

What I do know and can surmise is that ethnic differences were exploited by the colonizers to control the population.....and that post-Khrumah.....that political bases were formed along many different lines..including ethnic /religious ones....

Every group wanting to be represented and having hand in govnerment(and budget)..just human nature...

I know that whichever ethinc group Rawlings is from......is not the domnant group...and that he married a woman from the dominant group....I'm assumig to consolidate power....(politics)

As for the deaths...I can't comment other than to say....he entered office by coup....and that understanding nature of African politics....I know he had to squash subsequent attempts to overthrow or plot against him and remove him from office...I'm not naive enough to think that leader doesn't have play by the rules of his region....to stay in power.

[COLTRANE]

he is Scotish right?