The President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has intimated that, the late former President, Jerry John Rawlings was a good counsel to him during his Presidency as he could count on his wealth of experience and knowledge.
Eulogising the late President in a state burial held as part of the final funeral rites, President Akufo-Addo, revealed that in moments of difficulty during his presidency, the late President always came through for him.
“From my entry into office, right up to the day he was called by his Maker, he remained a good friend and a repository of sound advice. I knew that, in moments of difficulty in my presidency, I could count on his considerable wealth of experience and knowledge. On those occasions, he came through for me.”
President Akufo-Addo also revealed that, his broken relationship with the late President was mended as they subsequently became good friends as opposed to initially when they both were not seeing ‘eye-to-eye’.
“It was no secret that the relationship that existed between the two of us, right from the heady days of 1979, through to my brief period in exile, his assumption of office as the 1st President of the 4th Republic, the historic Kume Preko demonstrations, my period as Attorney General and Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Kufuor administration, to me being elected 2008 NPP presidential candidate, was one of open animosity. We did not see eye to eye.
“However, with time, things changed. We came to see value in each other, and understood, to a very large degree, our respective perspectives. One thing we had in common was our mutual commitment to public service.”
President Akufo-Addo as part of honouring the memory of the Late President, announced at the gathering that, the University for Development Studies, Tamale will be renamed after him.
“While he was with us, he respectfully declined an offer I made to him in 2017 to have the University of Development Studies (UDS) which he personally helped establish named after him, but he rejected. His reason was that in adhering to his long-standing principle, he did not want any national monuments or facility named after him.
“Two days after his passing, at the 21st congregation of UDS, I expressed my strongest conviction in spite of his reservation that such an honour should be accorded to him. I am glad that this has found favour with his family and the necessary formalities will be carried out to achieve this. That is the Jerry John Rawlings University of Development Studies Tamale.”
Former President Rawlings died on November 12, 2020, at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra. experience
Read More: Former President, Jerry John Rawlings Passes On
After a four-day-long state funeral, the late President will be buried at the Military cemetery in Accra after the government and his family reached an agreement on the location of his burial.
In attendance at the funeral were Liberia President, George Weah, Sierra Leone President, Julius Maada Bio, President Akufo-Addo, former President John Dramani Mahama and other dignitaries.
