Former President Rawlings last Thursday received members of the British
Council?s strategic African Leadership programme at his residence in Accra.
The members were there to share the life experience of the former president
during his 18-year tenure as Head of State of Ghana and also to find out
what motivated him to lead the country for such a long period.

The four-day programme organized by the British Council seeks to bring
strategic leaders across the continent together to share ideas and also
learn from most successful personalities in Africa to enable participants
impart the knowledge gained for the development of their various countries.
Participants were drawn from Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan, Cameroon,
Senegal, United Kingdom and Zimbabwe.

Flanked by his wife Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings and Kofi Adams, Deputy
National Youth Organizer of the National Democratic Congress and special
aide President Rawlings cautioned educated and elite Africans to refrain
from using common English language to intimidate their fellow Africans.
He said he assumed power with young and energetic officers who after the
1979 uprising converted their anger and energy into productivity that ?has
brought Ghana to where we are now?.