Former Ghanaian President, Jerry John Rawlings, was yesterday, laid to rest at the military cemetery after a service at the Independence Square.
In his tribute, President Nana Akufo-Addo described the deceased as charismatic, energetic, and fearless.
“It is for good reason that his well-known and often-cited ideals of probity and accountability, in which he invested a great deal of his political life, are enshrined in the fourth Republican Constitution,” he noted.
The Ghanaian leader said these ideals, together with the “Freedom and Justice,” which form the motto of Ghana, constitute the foundational principles of social order on which the West African nation should develop.
He added that the monumental developments the country chalked “under the governance of Rawlings would linger in the hearts of many generations to come.”
Akufo-Addo continued: “History, on balance, will be kind to him and will render a positive verdict on his contributioan to the evolution of our nation and the entrenchment of its democratic institutions and culture.”
He reiterated his desire to name the University of Development Studies after the deceased for his role in its establishment.
According to the Chinese news agency, Xinhua, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the political party the late ex-president founded, eulogised his sterling leadership, “which culminated in the long period of political stability in Ghana.”
It added: “He hated the exploitation of ordinary people by people who are powerful and rich. His passion was for inclusiveness and the creation of structures to enable all persons to participate in governance. This led to the establishment of structures that allowed ordinary Ghanaians to participate in the ad
ministration of the country.”
Rawlings died in Accra on November 12 at 73 during a brief illness.
