J.J. Rawlings “brought democracy to Ghana,” says Shaka as he discusses the Ghanaian leader’s political legacy with Paul Ndiho. He used to say to me, says Shaka, that “if you want to be a leader you have to be willing to fail greatly so you can in the end succeed enormously.” Jerry John Rawlings was a Ghanaian military officer and politician who led the country from 1981 to 2001. He led a military junta until 1992, and then served two terms as the democratically elected President of Ghana. He was laid to rest on January 27 2021.