Former President of Ghana, Jerry John Rawlings has died in Accra. According to reports, he died at Ghana’s premier hospital, the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.
The late former President had been on admission at the hospital for almost one week for an undisclosed illness. Though there are rumors that Rawlings died from COVID-19 complications.
Ghana’s online news portal, Graphic Online reports that he fell sick after he buried his mother about three weeks ago.
The former Ghanaian military leader and politician led a military junta between 1981 and 1992. He later served two terms as Ghana’s democratically elected President between January 1993 and January 2001.
Rawlings came to power initially as a flight lieutenant of the Ghana Air Force after a coup in 1979.
Prior to this, he led an unsuccessful coup attempt against the ruling military government five weeks before planned democratic elections were due to take place in 1979.
After he initially handed over power to a civilian government, he took back the country mantle of leadership on December 31, 1981 as the Chairman of the Provisional National Defense Council (PNDC).
Rawlings left from the military in 1992, established the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and became the first President of the 4th Republic.
In 1996, he was re-elected for four more years.
Rawlings died at the age of 73.
