LONDON, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Ghanaian President Jerry John Rawlings will return to his father"s roots when he visits Britain next week. Rawlings, the son of a Glasgow retail chemist, will travel to his father"s city to collect an honorary degree as part of a six-day visit starting on September 9.

However it is unlikely to be a trip down memory lane -- Rawlings" father returned to Scotland when he was born leaving his mother, a Ghanaian, to bring him up alone. As well as receiving an honorary doctorate of law degree from the University of Glasgow, Rawlings will attend a durbar of Ghanaian chiefs at Greenwich, and visit Edinburgh and Sunderland. "It is essentially a private visit," a British Foreign Office spokesman said.

Rawlings, who has secured a place in history by becoming the first African leader to seize control in two successful coups, will relinquish power later this year after almost two decades ruling the former British colony.

In 1979 as a 31-year-old air force officer his Armed Forces Revolutionary Council toppled General Frederick Akuffo"s military regime, before he restored civilian rule later in the year. He seized power for the second time in 1981, ousting elected civilian President Hilla Limann, whom he criticised as inept. Eleven years later, Rawlings"s Provisional National Defence Council lifted a ban on party politics and he won a landslide victory. But his presidency will finish at the end of his second four-year term, the maximum allowed under the constitution. Elections for the new president will be held on December 8. Opponents have called him a dictator and said he had the worst human rights record of any Ghanaian leader since independence from Britain.

In January, Rawlings apologised to those who had suffered during his tenure as leader. "It is said that you cannot fry an egg or they say make an omelette without breaking an egg. We could not have achieved what we have without stepping on some toes," he told parliament.