President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday sent “heartfelt condolences” to government and people of Ghana over passing of the country’s former President, Jerry Rawlings, 73, affirming that the entire African continent will sorely miss the sterling qualities of the great leader.
“Africa has lost a stalwart of Pan-Africanism and a charismatic continental statesman,” Moussa Faki, AU commission chair, said on Twitter.
In a statement by Presidential Spokesperson, Mr Femi Adesina, President Buhari believes the passion, discipline and moral strength that the former Ghanaian leader employed to reposition his country over many years continue to reverberate across the continent and beyond.
According to the statement, “the President notes, with commendation, the unique role the former President played in strengthening political institutions in his country and Africa, stimulating the economy for sustainable growth, and vociferously championing the African cause by urging many leaders to work towards interdependency on the global stage, especially in areas of competitive advantage.
“President Buhari joins family, friends and associates of the former Ghanaian leader in mourning his departure, assuring that the ideas that Rawlings postulated, particularly for development in Africa, and his sacrifices in working in various countries as an envoy for peace and democracy will always be remembered.
“The President prays that the almighty God will grant the Ghanaian leader eternal rest, and comfort all his loved ones.”
Jerry Rawlings seized power twice in military coups but is regarded as a driving force behind Ghana’s emergence as a stable democracy.
His takeovers in 1979 and 1981 were marked by authoritarian rule and the executions of senior military officers, including General Frederick Akuffo, whom he overthrew in the first coup.
But Rawlings went on to oversee Ghana’s transition to multiparty democracy, winning election in 1992 and 1996 before stepping down in 2001.
Today, Ghana is considered one of West Africa’s most mature democracies and regularly sees power change hands between its two main parties.
“A great tree has fallen, and Ghana is poorer for this loss,” President Akufo-Addo said in a statement on Rawlings’ death.
John Mahama, leader of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) party that Rawlings founded, said in a Twitter message he had suspended campaigning for the 7 December presidential election.
The election will pit Akufo-Addo against his main challenger Mahama, a former president who lost to Akufo-Addo in a 2016 election, and other candidates from smaller parties.
The son of a Scottish father and Ghanaian mother, Rawlings first came to power in the 1979 coup when he was an air force lieutenant. He transferred power to civilian rule soon after but then led another coup two years later, decrying government corruption and weak leadership.
From 1981 to 1993, he ruled as chairman of a joint military-civilian government. In 1992 he was elected president under a new constitution, taking up that office the following year.
As president, he liberalised Ghana’s economy, encouraging investment in the oil and gold sectors.
In 2001, he handed over power to John Kufour of the opposition party, who had defeated Rawlings’ vice-president in the previous year’s election.
After stepping down, Rawlings remained a power broker in Ghanaian politics while serving in various international diplomatic posts, including as the African Union’s representative in Somalia.