A Kenyan journalist, Jeff Mwaura Koinange, has recounted an unforgettable encounter with Ghana’s former president, Jerry John Rawlings.
He described the encounter as a moment that turned a name he had only read about in history books into a living story of humility and leadership.
In a concise narrative titled ‘Through My African Eyes’, on his YouTube page, he shared his childhood days in Kenya and how West Africa, particularly Ghana, dominated newspaper headlines for its series of coups and power struggles.
“Back then, there was a coup almost every other year,” he said. “And one name stood out more than any other, Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings,” he recounted.
He narrated how a young Rawlings had seized power in 1979 through a coup d’état.
“We used to read about him in school,” Koinange recalled. “He was this young Air Force officer of mixed Scottish and Ghanaian heritage who had taken over the country. He lined up corrupt officials and had them executed. He was a hard man, a reformer,” he remarked.
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The Kenyan journalist also recalled how Rawlings voluntarily handed power back to civilians, only to reclaim it in another coup in 1981, launching nearly two decades of firm and transformative rule.
For Koinange, who had long known Rawlings only through news reports, meeting him years later in person was surreal.
While reporting in Accra one Saturday morning, Jeff stumbled upon a striking scene during Ghana’s national cleanup day.
The streets were empty, blocked off for the exercise, and as he approached a group of armed guards, he asked what was happening. “They told me, ‘It’s the President,’” Jeff said. “I couldn’t believe it. There was Jerry Rawlings himself, in a ditch, cleaning up the streets.”
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“He was down there, covered in dirt and sewage, pulling out plastic and waste. It wasn’t for show,” Jeff continued. “You could see he was putting his mind into it. This was the same man we’d read about growing up, the tough ruler, the coup leader, now cleaning the streets with his people.”
When Jeff introduced himself as a Reuters journalist and asked if he could film, Rawlings replied, “Why not?” before inviting him to meet later at the Osu Castle. “I thought he was joking,” Jeff said. “But sure enough, we went later that day, and there was a helicopter right there in the courtyard.”
Moments later, Rawlings appeared, climbed into the cockpit, and gestured for Jeff and his cameraman to join him. “We looked at each other like, ‘Really?’” Jeff laughed. “And then we realised he was the pilot.”
They took off from the coast, flying over the Atlantic and heading inland toward the Akosombo Dam.
“He was flipping switches, putting on his headset, all calm and confident,” Jeff recounted. “Here I was, being flown by the president of Ghana , the same man we studied about in school. Unreal.”
After an hour-and-a-half flight, they landed back at the castle. Sitting on the balcony overlooking the ocean, Jeff finally asked the question on his mind. “I said, ‘Mr President, you’ve been in power nearly 18 years. Was it worth it?’”
Rawlings paused, then replied, “The first time, I regretted giving back power to the civilians. But when we came back, I believe we made a change in this country.”
For Jeff Koinange, that moment captured the essence of Jerry John Rawlings ,a man of contradictions: once feared, later revered; a military ruler who lived among his people, taught through action, and left behind a legacy of discipline and national pride. “It was the day history leapt off the page”, Jeff said, “and came alive right before my eyes.”
Rawlings 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.
He was the longest-serving leader in Ghana’s history, presiding over the country for 19 years.
Rawlings died on November 12, 2020 at the age of 73.
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