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Former President Rawlings dies at 73
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Former President of Ghana and founder of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Jerry John Rawlings has died at age 73.
He died on Thursday at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra after a short illness.
A former military officer of the rank of Flight Lieutenant, the late Jerry Rawlings, became the Chairman of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) after leading a group of young soldiers to stage a coup on June 4, 1979.
After initially handing power over to a civilian government, he took back control of the country on December 31, 1981, and became the Chairman of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC).
In 1992, Mr Rawlings resigned from the military, founded the National Democratic Congress (NDC), and became the first President of the 4th Republic.
He served two terms as the democratically elected President of Ghana from January 7, 1993 to January 6, 2001.
Mr Rawlings endorsed his vice-president, Prof. John Evans Atta Mills as presidential candidate in 2000, to lead the NDC in that election, which the party lost to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) led by Mr John Agyekum Kufuor.
The late former president, buried his mother, Madam Victoria Agbotui, aged 101, on October 4,2020.
Before his death, he was the chairman of the Council of Elders of the NDC.
Mr Rawlings left behind a wife, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, former First Lady and four children namely, Zanetor, Yaa Asantewaa, Amina and Kimathi.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
The Parliamentary Select Committee on Energy has appealed to the Ministry of Finance to release GH¢5.6 million to the Petroleum Commission to enable it to establish and operate a world-class data centre.
According to the Committee, access to the funds will strengthen the Commission’s capacity to manage critical upstream petroleum data and improve its operations.
Speaking during the appeal, Chairman of the Committee, Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah, said the move was crucial to efforts to revitalise Ghana’s upstream petroleum industry and increase oil production.
He noted that although investment and hydrocarbon production had declined in recent years, Parliament’s approval of an extension of the petroleum agreement to 2030 had attracted additional funding and contributed to an increase in production from about 80,000 to 120,000 barrels per day.
Meanwhile, concerns have been raised over repeated budget allocations for oil exploration in the Voltaian Basin.
Mr. Bedzrah stressed that funds approved for exploration must produce tangible results, adding that the Committee would require clear evidence of progress before supporting future budget allocations for the programme.
The appeal was made during a working visit to the Petroleum Commission as part of the Committee’s oversight activities to assess its operations and management procedures.
During the engagement, the Chief Executive Officer of the Petroleum Commission, Emeafa Hardcastle, took the Committee through the Commission’s working procedures and mandate, which includes regulating, managing and coordinating upstream petroleum activities.
She disclosed that since assuming office in 2025, government had pursued measures to reverse the decline in crude oil production, sustain output and reposition Ghana as an attractive destination for investment in Africa’s increasingly competitive petroleum sector.
In addition, she said government had secured fresh commitments of about US$35 billion to help revitalise the sector.
As part of the oversight exercise, the Committee is expected to conclude its monitoring visit with engagements at the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) and the Ghana Oil Company Limited (GOIL).
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
News
“No civilisation deserves to be annihilated” – Mahama calls for dialogue on global conflicts at UNGA 81
President John Dramani Mahama has called for solidarity and dialogue in resolving global conflicts, insisting that no civilisation deserves to be wiped out.
“No human civilisation deserves to be annihilated, certainly not a member state of the United Nations,” President Mahama stated in his address at the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.
He called for solidarity with nations facing terrorism, especially the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), and for a uniform approach to conflicts in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
On the Middle East, the President called for a return to negotiations, saying “The current Middle East crisis is having a deleterious effect on the world economy.”
“I believe that dialogue can resolve even the most intractable of problems,” he added.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
