Larger than Life JJ:
a Very Hard Act to Follow

The Gulfstream III executive jet, with a red yellow and green strip along its fuselage, soared into the sky from the runway in Burma Camp, headquarters of the Ghana armed forces in Accra, leaving behind a deafening roar and blasting dust through the distant palm trees. Twenty minutes later it came in to land smoothly before repeating the process, four, five, six times, Michael Knipe writes.

At the controls, perfecting his landing and take-off procedures on the latest addition to Ghana's fleet of aircraft, was President Jerry John Rawlings the former flight lieutenant who has dominated Ghana in a larger than life capacity ever since the first coup that swept him to power 20 years ago.

He has never lost his love of piloting planes and takes pride in being probably the only head of state who can pilot his own presidential jet. There has been some criticism from opposition circles in Ghana over the purchase of the plan but the President dismisses it with a gruff growl. His old plane was known as the flying coffin and who better to fly the new one than the president?

The following day he conferred national honours - the Order of the Star of Ghana, the Order of the Volta, the Grand Medal and the Medal for Gallantry - on 94 recipients.

Among them, though not present, was Kofi Annan, the Ghanaian Secretary General of the United Nations, and Maya Angelou, the American writer who is of Ghanaian descent. It was a grand occasion in the banqueting hall of State House attended by the Chief Justice, the Parliamentary Speaker, ministers of state, members of parliament and the diplomatic corps as well as the family and friends of the men and women being honoured. Security procedures were minimal. A choir sang richly harmonic patriotic African songs and the national dance company performed an exuberant folk ballet in between the presentations.

An orchestra of 17, playing an assortment of drums, provided intricate percussive fanfares, a mass of cross and counter rhythms, as the President, dressed in a golden ankle-length undergown topped by a glistening yellow and gold toga, presented the medals.

No longer the lean young officer who staged two dramatic coups d'état, the President's stature has broadened. But the magnetic charisma remains and he combines, easily, the dignity of his position as a democratically elected head of state with the imposing demeanour of a traditional African chief.

Later I visited the president at his residence behind the massive walls of the Christiansborg Castle, the 17th century fortress built by the Danes and subsequently occupied by the Portuguese, Akwamu Africans and eventually the British Governors who at various times ruled what was then called the Gold Coast.

Half a dozen flying suits and a wet-suit and diving equipment were laid out on elegant chairs in a marble-floored reception room. Behind that the President, dressed informally in a black shirt and trousers, was busy with two phones, one at each ear, in what is clearly his den. At 52 he continues to be a hands-on head of state as well as a man of action in the air and under the sea.

Pictures of his wife and children were on display and buff folders, video tapes and compact discs were strewn across the carpet. A coffee table was piled high with papers, folders. This was a place of work. I asked him what would he do when he leaves office? Someone, he said, had once wanted to make a film of his life and had wanted him to play himself. "Can you imagine such a thing?" the President roared. "I mean I've LIVED this life. I've been through it. This has been REAL."

However writing about it was a possibility. "There is a generation of Ghanaians, those of about 20 to 25 years old who have no recollection of what this country has been through. And without those experiences this country could end up repeating the same mistakes."

President Rawlings is a man of immense passion with a powerful baritone voice with which he frequently roars, like a lion. He speaks with great emotion of how it has been necessary to restore the pride and energy of the Ghanaians after so much misrule. He has no compunction about having taken power by force.

"We could not have achieved what we did without stepping on toes,
To all such persons I say sorry."

"When Jesus entered the temple, he didn't just pray to God to drive the people out. He picked up a whip. What I am saying is that the use of force is a fact of life sometimes - when dialogue, reason, have failed."

He admitted that he had adopted western-style democracy - at the insistence of the aid donor countries - with some reluctance. "We were in the process of building a better style of democracy for this country. We were working at it, but they cut it off. They said: 'If you don't do it our way, no more assistance.' There was nothing we could do. There were foreign loans and road and electricity coming from the loans." But, he said, he had succeeded in reorganising the country, dividing it administratively into 110 districts where local assemblies were making their own decisions on revenue generation, planning, budgeting, and initiating and monitoring their own projects and programmes.

And he had won election democratically, he said, by telling Ghanaians the truth about their circumstances. "I promised the people hard times ahead. Our people have grown to appreciate the truth. They vote for an honest government. No one should lie to them or promise what they cannot deliver."

Earlier this year addressing parliament for the last time before he leaves office, the President offered a gesture of reconciliation to those who suffered as a result of decisions he took during his period in power.

"We could not have achieved what we have without stepping on some toes," he said. "We could not have turned the country around nor come this far without some difficult, painful, unpalatable but necessary decisions. In the process, we have offended some people. We have upset some people. We have hurt some people. To all such persons I say we are sorry." While his supporters applauded, opposition members listened impassively. However, John Kufour, the leading opposition presidential candidate, has given a public assurance there will be no time for vindictiveness if he wins the election in December.

Jerry John Rawlings will still be only 52. It is hard to imagine him not continuing to be a power in the land. In answer to a question he says he would be prepared to "continue to support national and international development efforts in whatever modest ways I can."

More specifically he is considering the prospect of taking up farming but says he will not desert the National Democratic Party. "I shall help in a secondary position. I have played front runner in times of danger. Now I shall play front runner in the villages, teaching hygiene, sanitation, fighting guinea worm, fighting ignorance. I shall be going about my missionary duties. That is what I enjoy most."

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