The Late President Rawlings
The final funeral rites of former President Jerry John Rawlings, who passed away on Thursday, November 12, 2020, commenced yesterday with the main funeral event taking place on Wednesday, January 27, at the Independence Square, Accra, from 9am to 11am.
The national activities started yesterday with a Catholic Requiem Mass at the Holy Spirit Cathedral and a vigil at the Air Force Officers Mess in Accra.
The former President will be laid in state today, Monday, January 25 and tomorrow, Tuesday, January 26 at the Accra International Conference Centre for various interest groups and members of the public to have an opportunity to pay their last respects.
Prior to the laying in state, the Anlo Traditional Council held two days of traditional mourning for the departed former President who hailed from Anlo.
The former President will receive a full military burial service on Wednesday, January 27, after which he will be interred at the Military Cemetery in Accra – the government’s designated burial ground for all former Presidents.
File Past
Heads of security agencies, leaders of political parties and the general public will have the opportunity to file past the mortal remains of the former President today.
Tomorrow, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia, former heads of state and heads of constitutional bodies, the Speaker of Parliament and former Speakers will also have the opportunity to pay their respects.
At 3 pm on the same day, traditional and customary rites will be held at the foyer of the conference centre with the body of the former President still in state.
The funeral for the late President was initially scheduled for December 23, 2020, by the State but that upset the Anlo Traditional Council and the Agbotui, Tamaklo, Husunu, and Allied families which wanted to be consulted.
The Council, led by the Awadada of the Anlo, Togbui Agbesi Awusu II, said the arrangements made at the time were not in accordance with the customs and traditions of the Anlo people. That led to the initial indefinite postponement of the funeral rites of the late former President.
The late President
Former President Jerry John Rawlings died from an unknown illness on November 12, 2020. He died aged 73.
The former military ruler left behind a wife, former First Lady Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, and four children – Zanetor, Amina, Asantewaa and Kimathi.
Rawlings burst onto the political scene in May 1979 after a failed coup attempt.
While he was on trial, on June 4, 1979, his peers – junior officers in the Ghana Armed Forces – organised another coup that wrestled him from the powers that be.
During the military junta, the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) led the country for about 112 days before handing over to Dr Hilla Limann.
He took the gun again to topple Dr Limann on December 31, 1981, forming the Provisional Defence Council (PNDC).
Rawlings governed the country as the Chairman of the PNDC for 11 years, before transitioning into a democratic leader when he won the 1992 and 1996 elections on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
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