Military leader-turned-democrat Jerry Rawlings dominated political life in Ghana throughout the 1980s and 90s, staging two successful coup d’états and winning two democratic elections. His death in November 2020 leaves a chequered legacy more divisive than ever. Different generations hold widely opposing views in both Ghana itself and across the diaspora

Apeagyei, Kojo

Asafu-Adjaye, Gillian

English

LSE Research Online

16/12/2020 What do different generations of Ghanaians make of Jerry Rawlings' legacy? | Africa at LSEhttps://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2020/11/24/what-do-different-generations-of-ghanaians-make-of-jerry-rawlings-legacy/ 1/9Kojo Apeagyei Gillian Asafu-Adjaye November 24th, 2020What do different generations of Ghanaians makeof Jerry Rawlings’ legacy?2 comments | 14 sharesEstimated reading time: 6 minutesMilitary leader-turned-democrat Jerry Rawlings dominatedpolitical life in Ghana throughout the 1980s and 90s, staging twosuccessful coup d’états and winning two democratic elections.His death in November 2020 leaves a chequered legacy moredivisive than ever. Different generations hold widely opposingviews in both Ghana itself and across the diaspora.Who was Jerry Rawlings?Born in Accra, Ghana on 22 June 1947, Jerry Rawlings was the son of aScottish farmer and a Ghanaian mother. He would later lead Ghana asits most senior statesman for more than 20 years, survive a  ring16/12/2020 What do different generations of Ghanaians make of Jerry Rawlings' legacy? | Africa at LSEhttps://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2020/11/24/what-do-different-generations-of-ghanaians-make-of-jerry-rawlings-legacy/ 2/9squad, stage two successful coup d’états and win two democraticelections. He died on 12 November 2020 at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital,Accra, after a short illness.As a boy, Jerry Rawlings attended Achimota Secondary School, Ghana’selite school boasting notable alumni such as Ghana’s  rst presidentKwame Nkrumah, Gambia’s  rst president Sir Dawda Jawara, andformer Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe. After completing hisstudies, he entered the Ghanaian military academy in 1968, and rose tothe ranks of Flight-Lieutenant by 1978. Around this time Ghana washelmed by a military government following the overthrow of Nkrumah’sadministration, and blighted by food shortages and economicstagnation. The increasingly politically active (and popular) Rawlingsused this swelling energy to support his  rst coup d’état attempt in1979, alleging mass corruption of the military government for decliningliving standards. However, the attempt failed, and Rawlings along withhis comrades were jailed.During the trial, Rawlings requested that his comrades be exoneratedwhile he accepted sole culpability, which the court obliged, sentencinghim to death. He continued to drum up support for his efforts, stating ‘Iam not an expert in economics and I am not an expert in law, but I aman expert in working on an empty stomach while wondering when andwhere the next meal will come from’. Not long afterwards, lower ranksof the armed forces sympathetic to Rawlings, and supported by junioro cers, successfully overthrew the ruling government of General FredAkuffo. Rawlings was released and took power in an uprising met withjoy and enthusiasm by most Ghanaians.Rawlings took charge of the newly-established Armed ForcesRevolutionary Council (AFRC), and assured the people that theyintended to hand power back to civilians after a necessary‘housecleaning exercise’, a thinly coded announcement of astronghanded upheaval of political and social life. Several senior16/12/2020 What do different generations of Ghanaians make of Jerry Rawlings' legacy? | Africa at LSEhttps://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2020/11/24/what-do-different-generations-of-ghanaians-make-of-jerry-rawlings-legacy/ 3/9military o cers were killed, including former heads of state, GeneralsFred Akuffo, Akwasi Afrifa and Ignatius Acheampong, which Rawlingsattributes to the decision of junior o cers.Notably, after this short stint at the helm of the country, Rawlings didhand over power via the ballot box to the newly formed People’sNational Party, who had the political support of Nkrumah’s followers,less than  ve months after seizing it. However, two years later, heseized power once more, staging his second coup d’état in 1981. Hecited poor economic management of the state as the primary reasonfor the upheaval, noting Ghana’s spiralling foreign debts, in ation risingabove 100%, and growing civil unrest.Rawlings returns for the second coming, 1981onwardsRawlings came into power for his second run, as a man of the people,his slogans included ‘Always for People. Always for Development’. Hebelieved it was up to him to ‘change not only the status quo, but also putthe country back on track’.Soon after, Rawlings invoked in the public imagination the country’s so-called ‘hoaders’ – corrupt o cials and wealthy traders, often seeingmarket-women transformed into scapegoats, and publicly  ogged. Theywere termed ‘kalabule’ which referred to excessive pro teering on theblack market. Everyday Ghanaians found themselves labelled criminalsthrough legal and social sanctions as the interim administration soughtquick solutions to Ghana’s economic troubles. In the vein of Nkrumah,Rawlings was initially a staunchly authoritarian-socialist, introducingworkers’ councils to oversee the country’s burgeoning factories,attempting to instil government management of the economy and buildclose relationships with the Soviet Union. His rise to power wasaccompanied by a wave of draconian policies, such as ‘one man, onehouse’ which saw money, cars, and even market-goods violently16/12/2020 What do different generations of Ghanaians make of Jerry Rawlings' legacy? | Africa at LSEhttps://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2020/11/24/what-do-different-generations-of-ghanaians-make-of-jerry-rawlings-legacy/ 4/9snatched from everyday Ghanaian’s by soldiers. Though as the Sovietbloc began to collapse in the late 1980s, Rawlings abandoned hisauthoritarian-socialist direction and embraced the tenants of free-market capitalism.Rawlings opened Ghana to the wider world, hosting  gures such asMichael Jackson, Bill Clinton, and Queen Elizabeth II to public fanfare.He made Ghana into a major player in UN peacekeeping missions, andsought economic support from the IMF, who requested tough austeritymeasures and pushed Rawlings to transition Ghana, into a multi-partydemocracy. This led to the formation of the National DemocraticCongress party (NDC) with Rawlings as their leader and the partyslogan ‘Unity, stability, and development’ reminiscent of Rawlings’earlier slogan. In 1992 Ghana ushered in its fourth republic and held anelection which the NDC won in a landslide, and again in 1996, withRawlings presiding as President for both terms. He peacefully handedover power to the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) after JohnAgyekum Kufuor won the 2000 elections.A divided legacyAs a second-generation immigrant, I (Kojo Apeagyei) have lived myentire life in the UK, connected to Ghana’s rich history through twoprimary sources: the internet and my maternal grandma (born 1945).The news of Rawlings’ passing was broken to me via a WhatsAppmessage from my grandma, and when I asked how she felt towards thenews, she responded, ‘I feel nothing at all’. A strange response from awoman so passionate about her country and its affairs. Rawlings’second coup d’état led to the death of my grandfather, Benjamin Kojo(Sardine) Yemoh – a powerfully wealthy man in the heart of Accra. Mygrandma noted how soldiers at this time ‘attacked business workers,and anyone with money… they would take your money, strip you, andbeat you in the streets’. My grandfather died to one of these attacks16/12/2020 What do different generations of Ghanaians make of Jerry Rawlings' legacy? | Africa at LSEhttps://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2020/11/24/what-do-different-generations-of-ghanaians-make-of-jerry-rawlings-legacy/ 5/9after being hit in the head by the butt of a gun. He later died indetention.Now for contrast, my father on the other hand, noted Rawlings as a ‘aman who served his country’, a revolutionary with good intentions,served by uncontrollable soldiers. He cites African leaders such asGhadda , as kindred compatriots who deposed ‘corrupt’ governments.‘He has his faults, he’s not perfect. But revolutions are like that… youcan’t control all of the soldiers below you, Rawlings did his best’. Withmy father, intentions reign supreme, and he highlights the chaos andturmoil Ghana was in, prior to Rawlings’ rise. The security we havetoday, with Ghana being one of the most stable multi-party democraciesin Africa is owed largely to the work Rawlings did decades ago.I (Gillian Asafu-Adjaye) am the  rst generation of my family to be bornoutside of Ghana. I am your typical Sankofa diasporan Ghanaian;Sankofa is a Ghanaian Adinkra symbol meaning, ‘go back and get it’, thesymbol is heavily associated with diaspora activities. I believe inGhanaian people, the development of the nation and all thingsGhanaian. This background meant there were two things I knew aboutRawlings:1. My grandmother detested him, because he ruined her tradingbusiness2. He was a father of Ghana, just like Nkrumah, Kuffour and otherleaders who have led the country. Without them, the Ghana I know andlove today would not exist.I have delved into a deep rabbit hole of Rawlings’ 20 years in power,learning from conversations with my parents to a fantastic book Ghana:the struggle to popular power. Rawlings: Saviour or demagogue. Thebook was written by several contributors and edited by Zaya Yeebo, who ed the regime in 1982 and has been living in exile since. The more16/12/2020 What do different generations of Ghanaians make of Jerry Rawlings' legacy? | Africa at LSEhttps://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2020/11/24/what-do-different-generations-of-ghanaians-make-of-jerry-rawlings-legacy/ 6/9questions I asked, and the more pages I read, the story worsened. Myfather spoke with disdain about the things he witnessed andexperienced during Rawlings’ early years. He spoke about the killings,most of all, and how barbaric and unnecessary they were. Mygrandmother was also a victim of the one-size- ts-all ‘kalabule’ brusheveryone was painted with. Her goods were seized and sold. My fathernoted that ‘anyone under 40 will love Rawlings’. Ironically, a videorecently surfaced online of Rawlings directing tra c on a car-jammedstreet, and throughout the video you can audibly hear the chants ofadoration by young people for the former president, ‘Drive safe Sir. Godbless you. We are proud of you; Ghana is proud of you!’ Still very much,a man of the people.What to make of Rawlings’ legacy?Rawlings remains one of the most polarising  gures in Ghana’s history,almost on par with his predecessor Kwame Nkrumah. Both  guresundoubtedly laid their mark on the country in extremely tough times,shaping its institutions, and steering it towards an envisioned future ofprosperity. Rawlings joins a club of controversial post-colonial leaders,boasting  gures such as Mugabe and Kenyetta, who will continue todivide opinion long through the ages. So long as his detractors holdmemories of brutality, torture, and theft close to their heart, hissupporters will look more towards the security, prosperity and identityRawlings brought the nation. For the two 20-something year old authorsof this blog, raised in the diaspora, we lie somewhere between theseperspectives. It is tough to reconcile these views and perhaps there isno reconciliation to be found. Rather, all that can be espoused is arecognition of what was, and what currently is. We must all live on thisprecariously complex ground.For better or worse, Rawlings’ is both a son and father of Ghana. His legacy is Ghana’s legacy.16/12/2020 What do different generations of Ghanaians make of Jerry Rawlings' legacy? | Africa at LSEhttps://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2020/11/24/what-do-different-generations-of-ghanaians-make-of-jerry-rawlings-legacy/ 7/9About the authorPosted In: History | Politics | Recent2 CommentsRead NextA re ection on the life of #Ghana President John Atta MillsJuly 25th, 2012Kojo Apeagyei is the Communications and Events O cer at theLSE Firoz Lalji Centre for Africa. He is also a creative writer, andphotographer.Kojo ApeagyeiGillian Asafu-Adjaye is the Programme O cer for The Programmefor African Leadership at the LSE Firoz Lalji Centre for Africa, anetworking and skills development initiative for LSE post graduatestudents from Africa and the African diaspora.Gillian Asafu-Adjaye

What do different generations of Ghanaians make of Jerry Rawlings’ legacy?

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What do different generations of Ghanaians make of Jerry Rawlings’ legacy?

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