President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has revealed that he and the late former president of Ghana, Jerry had a turbulent and wild relationship that dated years because of the differences in their political ideologies.
But, he said, in the end, the two of them saw value in each other and became the best of friends.
Mr Akufo-Addo said this when he received a delegation from the family of Mr Rawlings when they visited him at the seat of government, the Jubilee House on Thursday November 12 to officially inform him about the demise of the Founder of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Mr Akufo-Addo told the family that “I will like to extend my deepest condolences to the family, his widow, children, brothers and the entire family.
“I was given this information when I arrived at the office and I found it hard up to now to cope with the information. This is a man of great vitality, dynamism and energy.
“It is very difficult to go and see dead body lying in the morgue but then it is one of the things that all of us have got to get use to because the almighty has his own plans for each one of us.
“He and I had tempestuous relationship over many years but I believe that we came to see value in each other in the end. I am extremely disturbed and saddened by his passage. He is not an ordinary Ghanaian, he was the first president of our Fourth Republic.”
A family spokes person told the president that : “A great tragedy has befallen us as a country and as family. Some four weeks ago we were here to inform the presidency of the death of our mother, our grandmother, our sister.
The president, because of his special love for the ex-president, he assisted us a lot in the burial of our mother.
“Just some few days after the burial the former president Jerry John Rawlings felt sick and was hospitalized.
“A lot of efforts were made, the president was in touch with his brother. Little did we know that the former president will leave us.
“So we have come here formally to inform the president and the entire government that this is what has happened. Jerry John Rawlings is no more and we deem it appropriate to come and inform you officially.”
Mr Rawlings died at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra on Thursday, November 12 after suffering a short illness.
