Jerry Rawlings, ex-Ghanaian president dies

Jerry Rawlings, a former president of Ghana, has allegedly died from COVID-19 complications on Thursday, 12 November 2020, at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) in Accra, according to reports.

He led a military junta until 1992, and then served two terms as a democratically elected president of Ghana.

As a senior officer in the Ghana Air Force, he overthrew a military government in 1979, handing over to a civilian leader.

Two years later he led a second coup and was the head of a military junta until introducing multi-party elections in 1992 when he was first elected president. He stepped down in 2001 after serving two terms.

He began his time in power as a committed socialist but later introduced free-market reforms.

He ushered in a long period of political stability that continues in Ghana today, after a tumultuous series of coups in the 1960s and 1970s.

The former president who ruled Ghana from 1981 to 2001 was 73 years old. He was born on 22 June 1947.