An artist, Kwame Addo has put together an illustrated book titled ‘Changes’ which tells the story of Ghana’s June 4th, 1979 revolution and the events directly related to it.
Since it is not meant to be a detailed account, it does not cover every aspect of the story but tries to set it down for our remembrance.
It reveals an African uprising captured in ‘real-time’ (1979) by Professor Kwame Addo, as the continent continues to rediscover the true essence of its democracy; reminding us of the people’s power and their desire to survive in a free, just, and accountable society.
This insightful illustrated document is timely and informative after incubating for forty years. The A4 size, 34 pages comic format, cloaked in a captivating semi-hard cover is available in English, French, and Spanish.
Former President, Jerry John Rawlings died on Thursday, November 12, 2020, at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra.
Born on June 22, 1947, Jerry John Rawlings was a military leader and subsequent politician who ruled Ghana from 1981 to 2001 and also a brief period in 1979.
He led a military junta until 1992, and then served two terms as the democratically elected President of Ghana.
Rawlings initially came to power in Ghana as a flight lieutenant of the Ghana Air Force following a coup d’état in 1979.
Prior to that, he led an unsuccessful coup attempt against the ruling military government on 15 May 1979, just five weeks before scheduled democratic elections were due to take place.
After initially handing power over to a civilian government, he took back control of the country on 31 December 1981 as the Chairman of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC).
In 1992, Rawlings resigned from the military, founded the National Democratic Congress (NDC), and became the first President of the Fourth Republic. He was re-elected in 1996 for four more years.
After two terms in office, the limit according to the Ghanaian Constitution, Rawlings endorsed his Vice-President John Atta Mills as a presidential candidate in 2000.