JERRY JOHN RAWLINGS GHANA'S LONGEST-SERVING LEADER GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
On Thursday November 12, 2020 Former President of the Republic of Ghana Flight Lieutenant Jeremiah John Rawlings retired, a towering and transcendent figure in African politics revered within and outside the continent for his patriotism, sincerity, drive and participatory leadership approach bit the dust aged seventy-three at exactly 10:10 a.m at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.
Born on June 22, 1947 to James Ramsay John from Castle Douglas in Kirkcudbrightshire Scotland who migrated to the then Gold Coast in 1935 to work as a chemist and Madam Victoria Betty Agbotui a Voltarian from Dzelukope who headed the Catering Department at the State House he was christened Jeremiah Rawlings John at birth.
Baptized as a Roman Catholic,
he attended Mrs Sam Nursery School later New Nation School and Saint Joseph Catholic School at Adabraka near the Farisco Supermarket for his primary education.
Determined to excel both holistically and academically, he entered Achimota School which impeccably moulded three former Heads of State namely Dr.Kwame Nkrumah, Edward Akufo-Addo and Professor John Evans Atta Mills for a five-year Ordinary Level Course on September 22, 1961.
Assigned to Brigadier Sir Frederick Gordon Guggisberg House, he sang for the School Choir, excelled with the Cadet Corps and was a Member of the Red Cross Society.
In Form Four, he topped his class in Physics and also excelled in inter houses sporting activities.
His specialty was throwing the discus and playing cricket.
After completion in 1966 and with a sole passion for flying, he enlisted as a Flight Cadet at the Air Force Station Takoradi on August 25, 1967 at age twenty and was subsequently selected for initial officer cadet training at the Ghana Military Academy on September 4, 1967.
As part of the ongoing training, he was later posted to the Flying Training School at Takoradi to hone his skills in aerobatics.
On January 25, 1969, he was commissioned into the Air Branch of the Ghana Air Force with service number (GH1158) as a Pilot Officer and awarded the much-coveted Speed Bird Trophy for his outstanding airmanship.
By dint of diligence and dedication to duty, he earned the rank of Flying Officer in 1971.
Following his promotion to the rank of Flight Lieutenant the equivalent of Captain in the Army on April 22, 1978, he also distinguished himself as a dexterous fighter pilot having being assigned to the Number Four Jet Squadron which boasted of seasoned fliers namely Group Captain Richard Kobina Forjoe and Squadron Leader Samuel Offei Dwamena both of blessed memory.
He served in various capacities in the Air Force and attended a number of career and professional courses both local and overseas; the last of which was a flight instructor course in Pakistan from November 1978 to February 1979.
Having married his Senior High School sweetheart and longtime girlfriend Nana Konadu Agyeman at the Ridge Church on January 29, 1977, he seized power following a mutiny on June 4, 1979 and chaired the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council but relinquished power to Dr.Hilla Limann after one hundred and twelve days in office on September 24, 1979.
He later ousted the governing People's National Party in a coup on December 31, 1981 and ruled militarily as Chairman of the Provisional National Defence Council till January 6, 1993.
After retiring from the Ghana Armed Forces on September 14, 1992 he contested elections held on November 3, 1992 as flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress and won decisively after outpolling his main challenger the late Professor Albert Kwadwo Adu Boahen of the New Patriotic Party.
He was subsequently sworn-in on January 7, 1993 and re-elected on December 7, 1996 for a final four-year term.
He ceded power to John Kofi Agyekum Kufuor on January 7, 2001 after governing for eight years.
A joint recipient of the World Hunger Award in 1993 for transforming " his country from a condition of self-reliance, consistently focusing on the need for increased food production" he personally donated fifty thousand dollars as seed money for the establishment of the University of Development Studies.
In 2000, the Food and Agriculture Organization awarded him the 'AGRICOLA' medal for promoting agriculture in Ghana. The African Union appointed him as its High Representative for Somalia in October 2010.
In October 2011, he was also appointed Ambassador of the Pan-African Parliament.
A recipient of honorary degrees from the University of Development Studies, the University of Education Winneba, Lincoln University, University of Glasgow and Soko University in Japan, he is survived by a paternal sister Judy John nee Nkansah, Former First Lady Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings in addition to four adorable children and five grandchildren.