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Tag: National Mourning

  • Rawlings: Ghana declares seven days of national mourning

    Rawlings: Ghana declares seven days of national mourning

    Ghana’s President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has declared seven days of national mourning in honour of former President Jerry John Rawlings, who died on Thursday morning.

    In a statement issued by the Presidency in Accra, he said: “I have directed that all national flags should fly at half mast for the next seven days in all parts of the country and I have declared seven days of national mourning from Friday 13 November 2020.”

    President Akufo-Addo said it was with great sadness that he was announcing to the nation that the first president of the Fourth Republic, Jerry John Rawlings, has “joined his ancestors”.

    He said the tragic event occurred at 10.10 am (GMT) on Thursday at the Korle bu Teaching Hospital in Accra where the former president was receiving treatment after a short illness.

    “I convey the deep sympathies of the government and the people of Ghana to his wife, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, the children and the family of the late president in these difficult times.”

    He said in honour of the memory of the former president, he and Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia have suspended their political campaign for the same period. Ghana is scheduled to hold presidential and parliamentary elections on 7 December.

    The statement said the Government will work closely with the family of the late president on the arrangements for “a fitting funeral” for him.

    “A great tree has fallen, Ghana is poorer for this loss,” he said.

    Meanwhile, the family of the former president is asking for privacy as it mourns him.

    “The family requests privacy at this difficult moment,” his eldest child, Dr. Ezanetor Agyeman-Rawlings, said in a statement in Accra.

    Reports from Accra said hundreds of people have been pouring into his house in tears as the shocking news spread.

    Rawlings, 73, a former Flight Lieutenant and fighter pilot, was born on 22 June 1947.

    He burst onto the Ghanaian political scene when he was arrested and tried for mutiny in May 1979.

    At that trial, Rawlings, who was a fighter pilot, defended himself by criticising the military leadership at the time and widespread corruption.

    This won him many admirers and he was sprung from jail on 4 June by junior officers and other ranks to lead an uprising that they called “house cleaning exercise”.

    Three former military leaders were executed during the period which was regarded as the bloodiest in Ghana’s history.

    He handed over to a civilian government in September 1979 but staged another coup on 31 December 1981 and ruled as a military leader until 1993.

    Then he was sworn in as a civilian president after winning multi-party election on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) which he formed.

    He served two terms as the democratically elected President of Ghana from 7 January, 1993 to 7 January, 2001 when he handed over to John Agyekum Kufuor.

    Kufour’s New Patriotic Party (NPP), defeated Rawling’s party in the election in December 2000.

  • Zimbabwe declares days of national mourning for late national hero Mugabe

    Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Friday declared the late founding leader of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, a national hero.

    Mugabe, 95, died Friday morning in Singapore, where he had been receiving medical treatment since April.

    In an address to the nation, Mnangagwa declared days of national mourning until Mugabe is buried.

    “Our party, ZANU-PF, has met and accorded him national hero status, which he earned and richly deserves,’’ Mnangagwa said.

    He also thanked the government of Singapore for medical care, it extended to the leader until his death.

    In a glowing and moving tribute, Mnangagwa praised Mugabe for his great contribution and dedication to the development of the country before and after independence.

    He described Mugabe as a great teacher, mentor and “remarkable statesman of our century’’.

    “Zimbabwe is free, has been free since 1980, thanks to the sacrifices of a generation of dedicated, veteran nationalists and freedom fighters pre-dating the 1960s, who included the late Cde Mugabe,’’ Mnangagwa said.

    He lauded Mugabe for his signature policy of reconciliation and forgiveness with former coloniser Britain soon after independence in 1980.

    He also commended him for spearheading the land reform programme under, which Zimbabwe repossessed its land from minority white farmers.

    “The late Republic icon will eternally be remembered and honoured for the bold and historic land reform programme, which he undertook.

    “Through this programme, indigenous Zimbabweans regained their long denied land rights to complete their sovereignty.

    “For that, he was especially vilified, shunned and punished by those who stood to lose from an end to colonial rights and from a just reassertion of African rights,’’ Mnangagwa said.

    He vowed to continue with Mugabe’s long-life vision and legacy of black empowerment.

    “As we mourn the passing on of our commander, liberator, founder and leader, we remain determined to carry forward the transformation he so fervently desired, including protecting and defending the gains of the struggle for which he made huge sacrifices.’’

    “On the backdrop and solid foundation of the First Republic, which he moulded as its leader, we today recover and grow our economy brick by brick until his life-long vision of an empowered people is realised,’’ Mnangagwa said.