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Ghana Pays Final Respects to Former President Jerry Rawlings


Former Ghanaian President Jerry John Rawlings speaks at the final campaign rally for opposition presidential candidate John Atta Mills, in Tema, Ghana, Dec. 5, 2008.
Former Ghanaian President Jerry John Rawlings speaks at the final campaign rally for opposition presidential candidate John Atta Mills, in Tema, Ghana, Dec. 5, 2008.

Ghana President Nana Akufo-Addo, lawmakers and a host of dignitaries on Tuesday will pay final respects to former President Jerry John Rawlings, Ghana’s longest serving leader.

Large crowds of mourners have already paid their respects to Rawlings, whose body lay in state at the Accra International conference center.

Rawlings, who was 73-years old, died in November of last year, but his cause of death has not been revealed.

His burial was partly delayed because Ghana's political leaders disagreed on some logistics of his funeral.

Rawlings had a checkered past in Ghana, having led a military junta before coming to power in coup in 1992. Rawlings was twice democratically elected to two four-year terms.

Funeral service for Ghana’s former President is set for Wednesday.

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