Rawlings turns 66 today

Ghana’s former President, Mr. Jerry Rawlings, is 66 years today.

The former pilot and military leader, who later won two elections and became president at the start of the country’s Fourth Republic, was born on June 22, 1947.

He won both the 1992 and 1996 presidential elections after having led the military junta - Provincial National Defence Council - which took power from President Hilla Limann on December 31, 1981, for over a decade.

Prior to the PNDC era, Mr. Rawlings, together with some junior officers took power in a bloody coup on June 4, 1979 under the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council.

He was arrested in an earlier foiled coup attempt on May 15 that same year but got rescued by his colleague junior officers.

Mr. Rawlings, who founded the governing National Democratic Congress, is a staunch anti-corruption campaigner who has been relentless in touting his principles of probity and accountability both home and abroad.