Remembering Jerry John Rawlings of Ghana

Dr Promise Adiele, left, and former Ghanaian president and revolutionary leader Jerry John Rawlings

By Promise Adiele

It is not the anniversary of the death of former Ghanaian president and revolutionary leader Jerry John Rawlings. It is not even the anniversary of his birth date. He was born on the 22nd  of June 1947 and died on the 12th  of November 2020. This is not June. This is not November. Yet, thoughts about him keep making forced but welcomed intrusions into the recesses of my subconscious mind. Initially, the thoughts of Valentine Strasser, former Sierra Leonean revolutionary leader and Thomas Sankara, former Burkina Faso revolutionary leader dominated my mind but somehow, the thoughts of Jerry John Rawlings occupied my thought processes, taking over proceedings. Jerry John Rawlings redefined the socio-political and economic climate of Ghana, a country that was making an unhindered journey to the abyss of existential ruination before Rawlings took over. His pan-African ethos sets him aside as a perfect definition of a true nationalist.

Given his messianic posturing and the enduring saviour status he acquired in Ghana and Africa, many people called him “Junior Jesus” an appellation adherents of the Christian faith termed as profane and blasphemous. To compare Jesus Christ to Jerry Rawlings is a misnomer. That is not my intention here. But given that Jesus Christ represents a concise metaphor for any saviour of humanity at any level, given the way Rawlings saved Ghana from the hands of political and economic demons, that comparison may not be far-fetched, at least on its face value. Any country starring at an economic nadir needs a Jerry Rawlings, nothing can be more axiomatic.

Sometimes I wonder what would have become of Ghana if there was no Jerry John Rawlings. I remember those days when Ghanaians flocked to Nigeria and other parts of Africa in search of greener pastures. They did menial jobs like shoe-shinning, bread-hawking, street cleaning and as handymen. In those days, Nigeria was like Europe and America to Ghanaians. The Ghanaian currency, Cedi was almost worthless. Greedy, ignorant socio-economic and political predators held Ghana hostage and were inadvertently committed to liquidating the West African country. The same conditions in Ghana those days have replicated themselves in many African countries today especially those that love to delude themselves as the giants of Africa.

Ghana was going to be tossed into the dustbin of history. Elections were rigged, politicians stole with shameless impunity, and the electoral body was corruption personified. Inflation, poverty among the people, insecurity, decayed judiciary and many other disembowelling conditions were the hallmarks of the Ghanaian State. While those who benefited from the rot in the system lived like kings, while the politicians and their accolades enjoyed the milk of the Ghanaian commune, while top military brass drank from the same polluted trough with discredited politicians, the masses stewed in anguish. But Ghana was lucky, Jerry John Rawlings stepped into the fray. The rest is history. It is important to excavate these historical facilities in the context of relational political realities in many African countries. In Africa today, many civilian governments misnamed as democracy have inaugurated a legitimizing process of  official heist and corruption which will inevitably submerge the countries, pulverizing citizens of the motherland, inexorably erecting the edifice of colonialism albeit in a new formation.

The socio-political and economic transformation of Ghana under Jerry John Rawlings was mind-boggling. What did Rawlings do? He cleaned the Ghanaian Augean stable and set the country afresh on the part of economic recovery. Rawlings cleaned Ghana, and deleted all the principalities that held the country by the jugular, setting the country on the part of economic and political fluency. No one was spared. He executed eight senior military officers by firing squad and also three former heads of state. Three Supreme Court justices, those who enabled reprobation in the judicial system, perverting justice in the process, were killed. Two more senior military officers were also killed.  Many other economic and political saboteurs in the country were killed. Ghana’s transformation moved faster than the movement of a bullet in the air. Today, Ghana has become a reference point for many African countries. Their currency is one of the strongest in Africa. Today 1 Ghanaian Cedi exchanges for Nigeria’s N93. Many people from different parts of the world travel to Ghana to invest in real estate. Their universities rank among the best in Africa. Ghana started afresh, on a clean slate.

Following the observable transformation in Ghana, all the Ghanaian nationals in Nigeria and different parts of Africa returned home immediately after Jerry John Rawlings took over. Their country was experiencing something spectacular. While Ghana was rising, many other African countries that like to entertain themselves as the giant of Africa were busy investing in Ghana and sending their children there to study. Ghana became an example for Nigeria. How quickly can the table turn? One of the lessons I learned from the Ghanaian transformation is that it takes one man to effect a change in any human gathering. It took only Jesus Christ to do it. It took only David to kill Goliath. It took only Jerry John Rawlings to save Ghana.

Any country that finds itself in the depths of socio-economic and political strangulation needs a revolutionary like Jerry John Rawlings. It only requires courage, determination and an unflinching, unrivalled sense of patriotism. J.J Rawlings was a detribalized African. He lived above placatory, pecuniary compromise, vices which have desecrated the once hallowed altar of military establishments in Africa. J.J Rawlings was angry enough with his fellow revolutionaries to restore their country to its providential status. They were not afraid of death. They were not mindful of gain. They were sufficiently violated that the worst Ghanaian species of human beings, the very morally corrupt, decrepit persons were the ones calling the shots in Ghana while millions of Ghanaians were roasted in the crucible of economic stupor. Ghana’s continuity in such incongruous circumstances was tantamount to the self-inflicted suicide of millions of citizens. Although every military regime is termed as an aberration, the intervention of J.J Rawlings and his co-revolutionaries was welcomed across the world and it marked a watershed in the historical annals of that West African Country.

Every country hanging precariously by the precipice with the potential to slip up at any time deserves a J.J Rawlings. Of course, every country has a J.J Rawlings. In fact, there could be many J.J Rawlings scattered all over Africa. I am talking about genuine men and women who are deeply worried and concerned about the daily descent of their country towards Hades in the hands of the worst of its citizens. The populace, ordinary people in many African countries need revival. They need the Augean stable cleaned immediately. The populace in many African countries needs a redemptive transformation which would guarantee an egalitarian social order, social justice, fairness, economic prosperity and a level playing field for the citizens to prosper. Today, otherwise ridiculed Ghana citizens are some of the most respected citizens across the world. I do not suggest in any way that Ghana is now a perfect country, but if you consider what Ghana was before and what it is now, then we will collectively appreciate J.J Rawlings’ consummate intervention and legacy.

Jerry John Rawlings means many things to Ghanaians and African politics. From a military officer, he transmuted to a civilian president and served Ghana in an executive, democratic capacity. Today, Rawlings will be rolling in his grave to watch political developments in some African countries. Today, some African countries are worst than Ghana before the advent of Rawlings but the citizens in these countries are crippled and enervated by a preservative consciousness of fear of the unknown. Today, many African countries that beguile themselves to be practising democracy are a caricature of a democratic dispensation. The worst of their citizens are in charge, known criminals with available global records, corrupt persons oozing filth and decadence are the torch-bearers of the economy and politics of such countries. These countries are gradually approaching their individual and collective necropolises while the citizens chase inordinate, personal but elusive accomplishments.

One day, I would like to visit Ghana and perhaps, visit the family of J.J Rawlings. As we say in Nigerian street parlance, J.J Rawlings na man. Bros, where ever you are, na man you be. The story of Ghana and its economic and political recovery cannot be complete without you. I would have titled this piece Tribute to Jerry John Rawlings but this is not really a tribute. It is the musings of a scholar who is consistently infracted  by the daily developments in his country and Jerry John Rawlings inevitably encroached into his cognitive procedure. Such revolutionary byways of the mind become ineluctable when daily, one watches his country wantonly  raped by a coterie of scavengers, who it is clear, have no roadmap to turn around the fortunes of the country. I believe in reincarnation but I am not yet totally convinced about its reality. If I was convinced about reincarnation, I would wish that J.J Rawlings reincarnated in most parts of  Africa.  Adieu Jerry John Rawlings.

Promise Adiele PhD

Mountain Top University

Promee01@yahoo.com

X: @drpee4