Jerry Rawlings: The Man Ghana Sentenced to Death, Who Later Ruled It

He was a junior Air Force officer sentenced to die by firing squad. Weeks later, he was leading a coup. Years later, he was Ghana's president, one of the few African leaders to peacefully hand over power after losing an election. This is the story of Jerry John Rawlings, from his 1979 uprising and death sentence, to the executions of three former heads of state under the AFRC, to the 1981 coup that gave Ghana over a decade of military rule, to his transformation into an elected president who helped build the democracy Ghana has today. It's one of the most complicated legacies in African political history, and this video breaks down all of it. ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Introduction 1:16 The Making of Rawlings 2:41 A Country in Crisis 3:52 15 May 1979 5:05 The House-Cleaning 7:10 Rawlings Gives Up Power 7:49 The Second Coup 🔔 Subscribe for more untold African history stories. #JerryRawlings #GhanaHistory #AfricanHistory #GhanaPolitics #AFRC #PNDC