Former President Rawlings will receive a 21 gun-salute - Oppong Nkrumah

Information Minister-designate Kojo Oppong Nkrumah says the late former President Jerry John Rawlings will be accorded a Commander-in-Chief status at his burial service on Wednesday, January 27.

The Ghana Armed Forces would therefore fire a 21-gun salute and offer other military courtesies to him.

Addressing the media in Accra on Monday, Mr Oppong Nkrumah said the family of the former president had requested that no recording gadgets should be allowed at the Lobby of the Accra International Conference Centre(AICC), where the former President's mortal remains laid-in-state.

He urged the media to respect the wishes of the family of the former president to avert any unnecessary heckling or confrontation with the security detail tasked to maintain law and order at the place.

Mr Oppong Nkrumah said there would be foreign dignitaries including; a delegation from Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria who would pay their last respects to the former President.

Flt.Lt. Jerry John Rawlings was the first President of the Fourth Republic.

The former President Rawlings died on November 12, last year at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital after a short illness.

He was 73 years.

Rawlings was the son of James Ramsay John, a pharmacist from Castle Double, Scotland, and Madam Victoria Agbotui from Dzelukope of the Volta Region.

He was born on June 22, 1947 in Accra.

J.J Rawlings was trained as an Airforce Officer and came to power in 1979 after his first coup on May 15, 1979 failed.

He also staged a successful coup in 1981 and subsequently ruled the country for 11 years as a military leader and eight years as President.

He handed over political power to President John Agyekum Kufuor on January 7, 2001.

Jerry Rawlings thereafter remained a powerful voice in Ghana's public life and was seen as a Pan-African statesman and a hero to many.

Mr Rawlings was credited with embedding democracy in Ghana and establishing social and political stability.

He was survived by his wife, Nana Konandu Agyeman, Rawlings, three daughters- Zanetor, Yaa Asantewa, Amina and a son, Kimathi Rawlings.