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Mourners Pay Last Respects to Former Ghana President on Wednesday


Ghana's former President Jerry Rawlings arrives for the the swearing-in of Ghana's new President Nana Akufo-Addo in Accra, Ghana January 7, 2017.
Ghana's former President Jerry Rawlings arrives for the the swearing-in of Ghana's new President Nana Akufo-Addo in Accra, Ghana January 7, 2017.

Ghanaians will pay their last respects to former President Jerry Rawlings Wednesday in the capital, Accra, where his funeral is being held.

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

He was expected to be buried last month, but the delay was partly because Ghana's political leaders disagreed on some logistics of his funeral.

Rawlings was widely viewed as an advocate for the poor, with a checkered past in Ghana, having staged two coups and led a military junta before being democratically elected president in 1992. Rawlings won a second four-year term in office in 1996.

Rawlings held sway for two decades in Ghana, wielding influence even after leaving office, helping President Nana Akufo-Addo get elected for the first time in 2016.

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