The Convention People’s Party (CPP) has paid a glowing tribute to the late former President Jerry John Rawlings who passed on in the early hours of Thursday, November 12.
A statement issued by Nana Yaa Akyempim Jantuah, the General Secretary of the Party, said the CPP received the news of Rawlings’ death with a heavy heart.
The Party described Mr Rawlings as a “colossus” who set Ghana on the path towards the attainment of a democratic process, one which made the nation a beacon of hope for the African continent.
“It is clear to the CPP that without your zeal and acceptance to bring Democracy to our doorsteps, we could not exist as a Party today to take part in the democratic process in this country.
“We remember a few weeks ago as the Leadership of the CPP called on you to commiserate with you on the death of your mother, you admonished us to rebuild the party and make Osagyefo proud and these were your words:‘Today, as you two ladies (referring to the Chairperson and myself) have taken up the Leadership of the CPP from your antecedents of the CPP, I believe and hope that the Party is on the right path of rejuvenation and rebuilding and I know you can do it.’”
“The CPP will forever be grateful to you for giving a befitting and final resting place to our Founder and Leader, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. When everybody thought he will be comfortable at his birthplace, you as a visionary envisioned that he being a national hero deserved a befitting place to rest, thus, you built him a mausoleum, which has become a major historic and tourist attraction in the country”, the statement added.
It said the late former President was courageous, “brutally frank and had a wicked sense of humour, adding, “however, to err is human, to forgive is divine, the scars of the excesses of your regimes in the days of the revolution still lives on in the hearts of some, but no matter what it is, you transitioned from that period into a fine democratic Leader who made this nation proud.
The statement said the nation had lost a jewel, “but the loss to your family and your Party, the National Democratic Congress and all political parties in this nation is greater,” and expressed sympathies to Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, former First Lady and the children.
