• The late Jerry John Rawlings is known for having overseen some coup d’états in the past
• The Guinean military coup leaders in recent times cited a quote by Rawlings
• Another coup leader followed in the steps of Rawlings
Ghana’s longest-serving president, the late Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings, appears to have left behind a great legacy following his departure.
Among other things, he was noted for his success at seeing through two coups in the country. After these, he gave the country its most stable political republic since independence.
And although coups have become somewhat old-fashioned in the 21st century, West Africa has already experienced three of them within a year.
According to a BBC report, Africa has, in the last four decades, spanning the period between 1960 and 2000, remained consistent in the number of coups attempts that have hit parts of the continent.
On average, some African countries experience around four coup attempts per year. The figure has, however, dwindled to around two from the last two decades to 2019.
Niger, Mali and now Guinea have however been hit by coups this year alone.
On the back of the most recent one in Guinea where the leader of the Special Forces there, 41-year-old Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, seized the country’s 83-year-old president, Alpha Conde, a mention of Jerry John Rawlings was made.
In multiple reports across media platforms, it has been reported that a quote attributed to the former president was included in the live telecast address by Col Mamady.
“If the people are crushed by their elites, it is up to the army to give the people their freedom,” Rawlings is believed to have said after his first coup in 1979 although GhanaWeb cannot independently trace the veracity of this statement.
But that has not been the only time JJ Rawlings has had an influence on a coup in the sub-region.
In 1997, Johnny Paul Koroma of Sierra Leone was broken out of prison by his colleagues, just like Rawlings in 1979.
Face2faceafrica.com reports that Koroma also went on to lead a successful coup and called his military junta the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) – the same name by which Rawlings referred to his government in 1979.
So far, the ECOWAS has asked the Mamady-led coup to restore constitutional rule to the West African country.
Watch this video of the late former president, Jerry John Rawlings, addressing the nation in 1979 after his coup:
Source: www.ghanaweb.com
