Jerry Rawlings, ex-Ghanaian president, dies — two weeks after burying mum

Former President Jerry Rawlings of Ghana has died from complications of COVID-19, TheCable understands.

He had recently buried his mother, Victoria Agbotui, at Dzelukope in the Volta Region on October 24, 2020.

She died at 101 on September 24, 2020.

Shortly after the burial, Rawlings fell seriously ill and was hopitalised after showing symptoms of COVID-19.

TheCable understands that he also had underlying illnesses.

A flight lieutenant of the Ghanaian Air Force, Rawlings first staged a military coup as a young revolutionary on May 15, 1979, five weeks before scheduled elections to return the country to civilian rule.

From prison, he plotted another coup and took back control of the country on December 31, 1981, and became chairman of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC).

He resigned from the military, founded the National Democratic Congress (NDC), and became the first president of the Fourth Republic in 1992.

He was re-elected in 1996 for four more years. After two terms in office, the limit according to the Ghanaian constitution, Rawlings endorsed his vice-president John Atta Mills as a presidential candidate in 2000.

He was born on June 22, 1947.