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Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo says Rawlings died in Accra hospital after a brief illness.
Former Ghanaian leader Jerry Rawlings, who took power twice in military coups but brought democratic rule to the West African country, died on Thursday at the age of 73, the country’s president said.
President Nana Akufo-Addo said Rawlings died Thursday morning at Korle Bu University Hospital in the capital Accra, where he had been receiving treatment after a brief illness.
“A big tree has fallen and Ghana is poorer because of this loss,” the president said.
Akufo-Addo ordered the flags of the entire country to be lowered to half-staff during seven days of national mourning beginning Friday and said it would suspend the campaign for the upcoming December elections.
Rawlings was born in 1947 to a Scottish father and a Ghanaian mother who died in September at the age of 101.
Rawlings, who trained as an air force officer, came to power in 1979 after leading his first coup and then transferring power to the civilian government soon after.
In December 1981, he organized a second coup and was Ghana’s military leader until he introduced multi-party elections in 1992 that returned the country to democracy.
He won the elections and was sworn in as president in 1993 and served two four-year elected terms, leaving office in 2001.
Rawlings handed power over to John Kufour from the opposition party that had defeated Rawlings’ vice president in elections the previous year.
After resigning, Rawlings remained a power broker in Ghanaian politics while serving in various international diplomatic posts, including as a representative of the African Union in Somalia.
‘Charismatic statesman’
African Union President Moussa Faki Mahamat tweeted that the former Ghanaian leader was a “staunch of pan-Africanism.”
It was with great sadness that I learned of the passing of former President Jerry Rawlings of Ghana. Africa has lost a staunch pan-Africanism and a charismatic continental statesman. My condolences to his family, the people and the government of #Ghana
Moussa Faki Mahamat (@AUC_MoussaFaki) November 12, 2020
Michael Amoah of the London School of Economics told Al Jazeera via Skype that Rawlings, a very populist figure, had a “great influence” not only in Ghana, but throughout the African continent.
“It came at a time when I thought there was a lot of corruption from the middle and upper classes,” Amoah said.
“He wanted to close the gap between rich and poor, and therefore he was very popular with people affected by poverty.”
Amoah added that Rawlings is likely to be remembered in Ghana as a “results-oriented person” and someone who was “bold and proactive.”
The former president of Ghana is survived by his wife, Nana Konadu Agyeman, whom he met while at the Achimota school.
They have three daughters: Zanetor Rawlings, Yaa Asantewaa Rawlings, Amina Rawlings; and a son, Kimathi Rawlin
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