Ghana has lost great hero in the person of Jerry John Rawlings, he was loved by almost all and his tenure as president of the country saw much development.
below are some of the many achievements of the great man rawlings.
- Achieved political and economic stability in a region rife with conflicts (for example Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, Guinea Bissau, and Sierra Leone).
- Created 110 districts through non-partisan district level elections. Education, infrastructure developments, and healthcare all devolved to the district level. Annual government subvention by law goes to the district — unthinkable in many other African countries.
- Absorbed hundreds of thousands of Ghanaians living in Nigeria who were expelled. Housed them at El -Wak Stadium in 1983 and then moved them to their family homes. Most other economies, including even advanced ones such as Germany, saw their economies suffer when they reunified with integrated citizens (for example German reunification)
- Built first-ever memorials to Kwame Nkrumah and W.E.B. DuBois.
- Followed an independent foreign policy
See what this man did to the dead body of his wife on their way to the mortuary (photo)
- Returned Ghana to democratic rule in 1992, after a public referendum by a wide majority, approved a new constitution. Neither Nigeria, Iraq, Togo, nor Côte d’Ivoire was able to achieve this feat (in Nigeria two governments were overthrown during this period).
- Passed the value-added tax (VAT of 10%) to secure the government revenue base, which today funds most government public expenditures.
- Passed the Ghana Educational Trust Fund (GET Fund) that is today educating millions of Ghanaians.
- First Ghanaian President in 20 years to be received on a state visit of the US.
- Expanded electricity to Northern parts of Ghana – hitherto ignored by ruling elites since 1957.
- Both Bill Clinton and Queen Elizabeth II visited Ghana during Rawling’s tenure to highlight the successes of the country.
- The NDC’s agricultural policy and program 1994-2000 resulted in the recognition of Ghana’s Food Production Index of 148% for 1995-1997 as “the third-highest achievement in the record after Jordan (157%) and China (156%) in the World Bank’s “1999-2000 Development Report.”
- Contributed immensely towards dispute resolution and peacekeeping in several of the unstable countries in the West African sub-region and beyond.
- Started the Expansion Project and the Renovation of the 37 Military Hospital.
- In the urban road sector, reconstructed the entire Kumasi city roads, Sekondi-Takoradi city roads, and Accra city roads. In Accra, these included the six-lane dual carriage road leading to the four-lane dual carriage road from the Tetteh Quarshie Interchange to Independence Avenue.
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