Rousing Welcome For Rawlings

Former President Jerry Rawlings, who has been out of the country for almost a month arrived on Sunday night and used the Public Arrival Hall at the Kotoka International Airport. The move follows the withdrawal of courtesies to the former leader by the Foreign Ministry.

Mr Rawlings was in the United States of America at the invitation of Nigeria's vice President, Alhaji Abubakar to participate in a seminar on HIV/AIDS.

Whilst leaving for the US, Mr Rawlings used the public departure hall and for the first time he traveled without any security escort while carrying his own luggage.

Fans and supporters of the opposition NDC, who converged at the Airport, mobbed the former President as he emerged from the arrival halls with his own slung across his shoulder. He was then escorted by the singing and drumming crowd into a waiting vehicle, which sped off with him and former First Lady Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings.

Journalists from the various media organizations, including JOY FM, hoping for a quote from the former President, were disappointed as he declined to comment.