Saint Or Sinner: Rawlings Was Pivotal To Ghana’s Political And Economic Fortunes

TWENTY years after he left political office, probably nothing divides Ghanaians more than their opinions regarding Flight-Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings who has died. His lingering political influence on Ghana may be second only to Kwame Nkrumah. Some like Rawlings, some hate him.

I wrote a PhD on Rawlings and his rule at the end of the 1980s. After four years of intensive study, I was still not sure how to regard Rawlings. Was he a patriot who believed passionately in Ghana or a wrecker who wanted to bring the post-colonial edifice tumbling down? Today, 30 years later, I am still not sure what to make of him. But, assuredly, I will remember him and his legacy.

Rawlings has been a pivotal, absolutely central, figure in the country’s political and economic fortunes.

Ghana moved from military to democratic rule with two elections in 1992 and 1996. Both resulted in the election