On November 12, last year, one of the illustrious sons of Ghana succumbed to the icy hands of death a week after having being admitted to the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra.

The news of the passing of former President Jerry John Rawlings, who earned the honourable nickname Papa J, also had the title Flight Lieutenant (Flt Lt), spread like a ferocious bush fire.

The whole nation Ghana was sad; an oak tree on the country’s political landscape had fallen.

At long last, the preparations seem completed for the family and the state to send Papa J home after living from June 22, 1947 to November12, 2020.

There was a requiem mass for Papa J at the Holy Spirit Cathedral at Adabraka in Accra.

A communique by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration to the diplomatic missions in Ghana and the international community says the body of the former President would be laid in state at the foyer of the Accra International Conference Centre from yesterday, January 24, till Wednesday, January 26, 2021 for viewing from 9a.m till 5p.m daily.

Papa J will then be laid to rest on Wednesday.

We are not writing a tribute and so we can say it as it is that people have their own accounts of who Rawlings was with regard to the good, the bad and the ugly.

However, the Ghanaian Times wishes to applaud him for his achievements on the political landscape.

The man who overthrew a constitutionally elected government on December 31, 1981 did the paradoxical when he accepted the need for democracy.

He survived a number of coup attempts but quelled all of them and ruled as a military leader to prepare the way for democracy to take root in the country from 1992, when his Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) lifted the ban on multi-party democracy, after almost 11 years in power.

Sometimes, it is better to test what you’ invent’ yourself. Thus, Flt Lt J.J Rawlings stood election and got elected as a democratic President in 1992 and assumed power from January 6, 1993 as the first president of Ghana’s fourth Republic. He retained the seat and handed over power on January 7, 2001, having ruled for eight years.

Thus in all Rawlings led the country for 19 years, an achievement no other Ghanaian born of a woman can equal. This is because the longest reign a Ghanaian President would have now is eight years, which makes up two four-year terms.

The most important point is that J.J Rawlings managed to change the chequered history of democracy in Ghana. And, of course, we should not forget his mantra of “probity, accountability and transparency”, three ingredients for incorruptible governance.

That stability he achieved has now given Ghana the accolade of a “stable nation in a turbulent West African region.”

Since it takes political stability for every nation to progress, let’s bury all the differences and negative views of the man and together say “Adieu Rawlings; fare thee well Papa J. May the good Lord ignore your frailties and give you a place of joy. Amen.”