Jerry John Rawlings was born in Accra on 22nd June 1947, to a Scottish father and a Ghanaian mother, Victoria Agbotui from Dzelukope, near Keta, in the Volta Region. He was educated at Achimota College and the military academy at Teshie. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Ghanaian air force in 1969 and became a flight lieutenant and expert pilot, skilled in aerobatics. He passed on Thursday 12th November, 2020.
Below are some of his sayings:
- “Without the sanctity of truth, without the sanctity of freedom, and without the sanctity of justice, the quality of democracy we want to espouse will lose its value”
- “The scourge of indiscipline that is plaguing our society requires a highly disciplined security service that stays above reproach so it can have the moral authority to maintain law and order and curb the growing lawlessness in society.”
- How do we engender peace and security when some of the very forces that seek to impose their moral compass on us are no apostles of international political morality?
- “It is not the absence of military interventions that we have restored, which will bring back our democracy, development, justice, and freedom. What is needed is the ability to empower the people and integrity of leadership. Leadership should not be used to intimidate our citizens, rather it should empower them.”
- “Nothing beats logic than a government that forces itself on its citizens. A genuine conducted electoral process should be without the harsh use of the armed forces, and without fear of intimidation. This is the best way to assure people that their will has prevailed, thus produces a cleansing effect in the society.”
- “The most dangerous mistake of any political force is to forget its roots.”
- “June 4th was about restoring the dignity of the ordinary man and woman and punishing those who openly paraded corruption, those who dispensed favours irregularly and promoted what we used to call ‘bottom power’ in the award of contracts; those who sought to normalise a corrupt way of life in the minds of ordinary people.”
- “Whatever form of government we adopt as citizens to suit our peculiar circumstances, our basic tenet is our common yearning and concern for every person, for politics, whatever its colour must be an avenue to serve our fellow men.”
- “Food is a political weapon…Africa’s foremost defense is self-sufficiency in food. Until we attain a substantial measure of freedom from food dependency, we are vulnerable to manipulation by the wealthier nations.”
- “The test of religious belief is not in pious platitudes and cautious charity, but in positive and creative action.”
- “Democracy is not realized merely by having a machinery for registering voters and getting them to vote every four years, but also by there being a machinery for identifying the needs of those voters in between the election periods, and monitoring the realization of those needs.”
- “I, Rawlings will not turn round and commit the very crime for which another man lost his life.”
- “I am not an expert in Economics and I am not an expert in Law, but I am an expert in working on an empty stomach while wondering when and where the next meal will come from, I know what it feels like going to bed with a headache, for want of food in the stomach”
- “Whatever form of government we adopt as a people to suit our peculiar circumstances, our basic tenet is our common yearning and concern for every individual; for politics, whatever its colour must be an avenue to serve our fellowmen.”
- “People with conscience are sometimes appalled by the extreme insensitivity displayed by some political appointees. The unprecedented levels of corruption, offensive show of power and opulence by some at a time when our country requires prudence and frugality is something that I call on President Mahama and his vice to set their eyes on”
- “Nothing is more shameful for a people than a government imposing itself on the will of the people. Genuine electoral processes conducted without fear or intimidation, without the harsh use of our armed forces, produces a cleansing effect in society and reassures the people that their will has prevailed.”
- “The denial of the will of the people and its attendant corruption is what used to generate the coups of the past. If we want to distance our political dispensation from coup d’états then it is incumbent upon us to maintain the sanctity of the right of choice and the electoral process.”
- ”Truth is so important. Do you know what Ghandi said? And I don’t need Ghandi to tell it to me. Ghandi said he was looking for truth in God only to discover that God was in Truth.”
- “How do we implement global partnership for sustainable development if we do not confront the challenges of the current global political climate and the dearth of international morality of some of the world’s leading nations?”
