By Michael Effiong
At last, the family and Government have agreed on a date for the funeral of African Statesman and former Ghanaian President, Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings.
The funeral ceremony of Rawlings, Ghana’s longest-serving head of state and founder of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), will be held on December 23 at the Independence Square, Accra.
According to Mr. James Victor Gbeho, Head of the Funeral Planning Committee, the Rawlings family agreed on the date with the government of the Republic of Ghana.
Rawlings, who is one of the most respected African leaders, was a military leader in Ghana and later became a politician who ruled the country from 1981 to 2001.
The former President initially came to power in Ghana as a flight lieutenant of the Ghana Air Force following a coup d’état in 1979.Before running the country as a democratically-elected president for 8 years.
He died at the age of 73 on November 12th at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra after a brief illness.
He was until his death, the African Union envoy to Somalia.
