He had everything to be a happy man. But the chairman, eternally dissatisfied, always dreamed better for his people. From now on, his fate belongs to history.
Jerry John Rawlings passed away on Thursday, November 12, 2020. His country, Ghana, mourns him. Many Africans too. Because, you say, it is the whole of Africa that is in mourning. You have often quoted him here as an example. What did he embody so special that his disappearance was perceived as a loss for the entire continent??
Now that he is no more, one can dare to say that Jerry John Rawlings really embodies a type of leadership and patriotism that is quite rare, which many people in Africa today so desperately need. Few of the leaders of this continent have had the privilege of seeing their country shine and realize that it simply would not have been possible without them. Of course, Ghana’s economy can still suffer from unfavorable economic conditions. Ghanaian democracy can even sometimes be shaken by some earthquakes. But the building is unlikely to collapse anytime soon. Because the foundation was built to withstand the times. This predicted Jerry John Rawlings and responded to the American journalist Diane Sawyer in the program “60 minutes” and confirmed that if he was by chance in power in Ghana, the devil personally could not afford what he wants, but must follow what the people in this country expects of him. More than the hard determination that we knew him, the President needed visionary leadership, to announce with such certainty in 1992 that Ghana would definitely establish itself as an exemplary democracy and a grassroots economy. quite healthy.
It is therefore, in short, about institutions …
Yes. Institutions, but it is in the mentalities that this work was built. And in twenty years, Ghanaian alternation is no longer just a word. With their vote, they even know that they can dismiss leaders whose financial management does not suit them or disappoint them. The country is currently on the verge of a presidential election and not a violent demonstration on the board, not a death. Better yet, if he were re-elected on December 7, Nana Akufo-Addo would never dare to touch the constitution to give a possible third term in four years.
With Donald Trump, we know that no democracy is now immune to disappointment …
How right you are! When rival John Dramani Mahama was defeated four years ago, he hesitated to admit defeat and even tried to challenge it. He was then discreetly reminded that he had no right to give the country the image of a democracy … rubbish. And resigning president as he was, he had to swallow his disappointment and follow what the Ghanaians had decided. In short, Rawlings had predicted everything …
Even Nana Akufo-Addo had tried to challenge John Dramani Mahama’s victory in 2012, but was decided by the Supreme Court. Authorized voices had immediately made the candidate Akufo-Addo understand that Ghanaian democracy could not be affected by such keys, and that he should be patient until he succeeded better.
The architect of this harmonious portrait of the rule of law, democracy and the relative economic prosperity of Ghana, JJ Rawlings, a painter in his spare time, had everything to be a happy man. But he was eternally dissatisfied and always dreamed of better for his people. What would I wish him now, if not to meet, a day over there, in the sky, “Black Star”, shining, beyond all his hopes?
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