Rawlings to be given state burial on January 27

The late President Jerry John Rawlings will be laid in state at the foyer of the Accra International Conference Centre from January 24 to January 26, 2021, the Foreign Affairs Ministry has said in a circular to foreign missions.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration of the Republic of Ghana presents its compliments to all Diplomatic Missions, International Organizations and Honorary Consulates accredited to the Republic of Ghana and with reference to the former’s Note Verbale No. PR/CIR dated 16th December 2020, informing of the postponement of the funeral arrangements for the late Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings, Former President of the Republic of Ghana, has the honour to inform of the new dates for the funeral and burial rites of the late former president as follows:

”Laying-In-State from 24th to 26th January 2021 at the Foyer of the Accra International Conference Center (AICC) From 9:00 a.m. to 5p.M. daily; Mass on 26th January, 2021 from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at the Holy Spirit Cathedral, Accra; Burial Service on 27th January, 2021 from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at the Independence Square, Accra,” the circular said.

Former President of Ghana, Jerry John Rawlings died at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra on November 12,2020.

Jerry John Rawlings was born on 22 June 1947 and is a former Ghanaian military leader and subsequent politician who ruled the country from 1981 to 2001 and also for a brief period in 1979.

He led a military junta until 1992, and then served two terms as the democratically elected President of Ghana.