Jerry John Rawlings is a former Flight Lieutenant of the Ghana Air Force who led a coup in Ghana 1979 and became the country's head of state. Rawlings initially came to power in Ghana following a coup d'�tat in 1979 and, after initially handing power over to a civilian government, took back control of the country on 31 December 1981, as the Chairman of the Provisional National Defence Council. He remained in power in this way until 1992, when he resigned from the Armed Forces, founded the National Democratic Congress and became the first president of the Fourth Republic. He was re-elected in 1996 for a further four years. Rawlings initiated his debut coup d'�tat on 15 May 1979, leading a group of military personnel in a coup attempt on General Fred Akuffo which resulted in him arrested, imprisoned and facing a death sentence. On 4 June, soldiers sympathetic to his motivations broke him out of jail, and he led a revolt of both the military and civilians which overthrew General Akuffo and the Supreme Military Council, effectively leaving him in charge. 

June 22nd, 1947 in Accra  /  Died:   Nov 12th, 2020