Rawlings had regrets but his triumphs overshadow them all – Archbishop Duncan-Williams

The late former President J.J Rawlings had regrets but his good deeds overshadow those moments, the General Overseer of Action Chapel International, Archbishop Bishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams, has said.

Eulogising Ghana’s longest-serving leader, who died on Thursday at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, the Archbishop described Mr Rawlings as a patriarch who loved his country.

“The man had a lot of goodness, and he demonstrated it in the best way possible. He touched so many lives in many ways. He did a lot of good. I know so many people whose school fees he paid personally. He did so many good things. He also did a lot of good in this nation,” he explained.

Widely regarded as a bosom friend of Mr. Rawlings who led Ghana from 1981 to 2001, the Archbishop said the late President who had wanted to be a priest in his formative years was driven by passion.

“This is the time to focus on the good of the man, forgiveness, mercy, and his family and the unity of our nation with elections coming. It is time to reflect on unity, forgiveness, and love and the good of people,” he told an Accra-based radio station.

Jerry John Rawlings was born in Accra on June 22 1947, to a Scottish farmer and a Ghanaian mother, Victoria Agbotui, who was buried on October 19, a few weeks before his son’s death.

Rawlings ended his second term in 2001 and took an almost unprecedented step for a former African military leader when he handed over to his successor, J.A Kufuor.

That moment, the Archbishop said redefined the character of the former President.

“I was then in the United States and many people who were concerned called me to find out if he was going to remain in power or relinquish power to Kufuor. I called him to find out what was going on in his mind. He said something that really touched my heart and I saw him as someone who really cared about this country.

“He said that ‘he had done his best and it was time for his administration or government to leave for another to come and build the country’ and he did just that.

“A lot of people called me and were very surprised that he did that. There were a lot of people who didn’t want him to leave but rather hold onto power. What he did was very courageous.

“If he hadn’t left power and allow the new administration to come in, Ghana would have gone back. We won’t be where we are today. That made me appreciate and respect him the more,” he said.

The Archbishop who had for years interceded on behalf of the former President told Joy FM that the former President’s death was a great loss for the world.

“It is a great loss for our nation and nations because he was loved in other nations that I visited over the years. He was one leader of this nation that wherever you go, his name comes up. He was really loved and celebrated.

He said the last time the two met was during the death of the mother of Mr. Rawlings. “I visited him and the family and prayed with them.”

About the news of his death, the archbishop said; “I wasn’t expecting this at all. I’m still grieving in my own way about the loss of this great patriarch and a man that really cared for this nation.”

With Ghana’s presidential and parliamentary polls less than a month away, Archbishop Duncan-Williams described the timing of the death of the former president as delicate.

“He will be missed but we will continue to go forward. We must let his departure unite us and not to divide us.

“His death is a wake-up call for every leader or for all of us because I saw him a few weeks ago and we were talking. There was no sign about what had happened in the atmosphere

“I didn’t sense anything; I didn’t see anything around him. For this to happen, it is a wakeup call for everybody. Everybody must perform the duty for which we were all born. He has fought his fight and he’s kept the faith and he’s gone ahead,” he added