Jerry John Rawlings was a Ghanaian military officer, aviator, and politician who led the country briefly in 1979 and then from 1981 to 2001. He led a military regime until 1993 and then served two terms as the democratically elected president of Ghana. JerryRawlings popularly known as J.J, is the former president of Ghana. A hands on, brave and astute leader mostly revered and known for revolutionizing the... Ghana witnessed her first firing squad (human execution) at the Teshie Military range near the Military Academy in the south-eastern side of Accra in June 1979. The incident occurred three weeks after Rawlings overthrew Gen. Ghana moved from military to democratic rule with two elections in 1992 and 1996. Both resulted in the election of the former military leader, Flight-Lieutenant JerryRawlings, as president. Rawlings’s party gained a majority of seats in parliament on both occasions. Although JerryRawlings’ leadership as president of Ghana spanned from 1981–2001, he was the leader of Ghana’s people’s revolution during the period 1982 to 1992. Fritts, Ambassador to Ghana from 1983 to 1986. _1050310_rawlings12._300jpg FRITTS: Ghana had a very long history of a close relationship with the United States. It was the first country in Africa to become independent, in 1957. JerryRawlings, a former Ghanaian Air Force officer who led two military coups before steering his country toward democracy with an authoritarian hand, died on Thursday in the nation’s capital, Accra.