Rawlings hosts Strategic African Leaders

Former President Jerry John Rawlings on Thursday received members of the British Council's Strategic African Leadership programme at his residence in Accra.

The members were there to share the life experience of the former president during his 18-year tenure as Head of State of Ghana and also to find out what motivated him to lead the country for such a long period.

The four-day programme organized by the British Council seeks to bring strategic leaders across the continent together to share ideas and also learn from most successful personalities in Africa to enable participants impart the knowledge gained for the development of their various countries.

Participants were drawn from Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan, Cameroon, Senegal, United Kingdom and Zimbabwe.

Flanked by his wife Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings and Kofi Adams, Deputy National Youth Organizer of the National Democratic Congress and special aide, President Rawlings cautioned educated and elite Africans to refrain from using their mastery of the English language to intimidate their fellow Africans.

He said he assumed power with young and energetic officers who after the 1979 uprising converted their anger and energy into productivity that “has brought Ghana to where we are now”.

By Kofi Adams