Vanguard Student Unification Party Mourns JJ Rawlings

SUP extends message of condolences to the family of the late Jerry John Rawlings and the heroic people of Ghana upon the passing of their former President FIight-Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings.

Mama Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, members of the Rawlings' family, brave and courageous soldiers of Ghana Military, ideological revolutionists and leaders of the NDC, industrious and herioc people of Ghana, fellow Africans, comrades and friends, all and sundry:

SUP extends profound condolences to the family of fallen Pan-African hero and former Ghana's President Jerry John Rawlings. Yesterday ( November 12, 2020), the world woke up with the egregious news of the passing of the Ghana former Head of State Ft-Lt Jerry John Rawlings at age of 73 at the Korle- Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra after brief ailment.

The death of Jerry Rawlings is a tremendous loss to Ghana and Africa as intimated by current Ghana President Nana Akufo-Addo that "a great tree has fallen and Ghana is poorer for this loss." Indeed the passing of Jerry Rawlings is a great loss, and this loss is not just for Ghana but for the African continent as a whole. Africa is equally poorer as Ghana because the late Jerry Rawlings was a giant power broker and a godfather figure for the Africa continent.

Comrade — President Rawlings was an enigmatic and charismatic statesman and stalwart of Pan- Africanism who rose through the ranks and file of the Ghanaian military and subsequently came to the state power through two(2) consecutive coup d' etat(s) and transferred power to civilian rule through democratic process on all occasion.

Understanding the bankrupt, corrupt and discarded governance system of Ghana and exploitative presence of neo- colonialism in Ghana as well as on the African continent, the young Rawlings developed a more leftist ideology through his involvement with the student community at the University of Ghana which inspired him to fight against corruption, injustices and neo- colonialism.

The corrupt nature of the Acheampong and Akufo governments and the dependency on pre- colonial powers of the Fred Akuffo administration in Ghana led to economic decline and impoverishment which forced the young ideological Rawlings along with a group of soldiers of the Ghanaian military to stage a coup that ousted the Akuffo Government, thereby establishing a 15-member Armed Revolutionary Council (AFRC) in which he became its chairman in 1979.

Prior to that, he had led an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the ruling Military Government on May 15, 1979, a few weeks to the scheduled democratic elections. He was arrested and sentenced to death but was freed when a few regiments of soldiers storm the capital Accra in a bloody coup that overthrew the Frederick Akuffo government and made him Head of State. He ruled shortly and returned the country to civilian rule.

After handing power over to a civilian government, he took back control of Ghana on December 31, 1981, as chairman of the Provisional National Defense Council (PNDC) citing widespread corruption and bad governance as reasons for the coup.

Rawlings resigned from the military in 1992 and founded the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and became the first President of the Fourth Ghana Republic.

After two terms in office, he honorably left office in 2001 in accordance with the Ghanaian constitutional limit of two terms. Rawlings oversaw Ghana's transition to multi-party democracy, winning elections in 1992 and 1996 before stepping down in 2001.

Our party honors the glorious memory of this fallen Pan- African icon as a giant of development, an unremitting anti-corruption crusader, a genuine hope of the poorest of the poor and a hero of democracy. Though his critics and detractors maligned him as an authoritarian ruler and a coup-plotter; for us, we consider him as a fearless revolutionary soldier, a true nationalist, an avowed socialist and the father of modern Ghana. His immeasurable impact on the development of Ghana and the forward march of the African Continent will forever be remembered in the annals of the African history.

Revolutionary-soldier Jerry John Rawlings serves as a source of inspiration and courage for many young Africans because he was an ardent revolutionary patriot, squadron soldier and an outstanding statesman. SUP calls on all African leaders especially the ones from the West African sub-region to emulate the developmental agenda, fighting against grafts spirit and democratic examples of Jerry Rawlings by building their nation, fighting corruption, and peacefully turning overpower when their constitutional term limits elapsed rather than amending their nation's constitution to perpetuate their grip on power.

SUP therefore considers comrade Jerry John Rawlings as a MARTYR of the African Liberation Struggle as he reunites with Nelson Mandela, Robert Mugabe, Sekou Ahmed Toure, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Agostinho Neto, Walter Sisulu, Thomas Sankara, Samora Machel, Gammal Abdal Nasser, Odinga Odinga, Patrice Lumumba, and Oseayefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.

Long live the perseverant, resistant, and persistent fighting spirit of Revolutionary Soldier Jerry John Rawlings. Long live the willful-undying spirit of Massescracy. Aluta, the struggle for African unity, peace, and egalitarianism continues!

Done and released on this 13th day of November A.D 2020 by and through the mandate of the Politburo and Central Committee concomitantly of the all-powerful Vanguard Student Unification Party.

Signed:

Cde. Mustapha N. Kanneh (ATATURK)

Secretary-General/SUP

Approved:

Cde. Momo J. Peters