I told Rawlings that he would live beyond 100 years and he laughed out very loud – Gabby

A leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Gabby Otchere-Darko has said he met the late former president of Ghana, Jerry John Rawlings after the burial of his mother and told him he would live longer on earth just like his mother did.

But, he said Mr Rawlings laughed out very loud upon hearing the comment he made.

Gabby in a tweet to eulogize the Founder of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) said “A few weeks ago, when I visited him with some family members to express our sympathies over the passing of his mother, I said to President Rawlings, it looks like the world will have to ‘endure’ you for sometime, considering your mum lived beyond 100. He laughed out loud. RIP.”

Mr Rawlings died at the Kolre Bu Teaching Hospital on Thursday, November 12 after suffering a short illness.

He was 73 years.

Former President John Agyekum Kufuor has said history will definitely give the late former president Jerry John Rawlings a balanced place in Ghana.

In a statement reacting to the news of his death on Friday, November 13, his successor, Mr Kufuor said: “My wife Theresa and I are deeply saddened by the passing of former president Jerry John Rawlings whose untimely death reported yesterday came as a thunderbolt to us and our children.

“President Rawlings was the longest-serving head of state since our nation’s independence in 1957, and even though it wasn’t always he and I agreed on many matters if the state – I felt that he was trying to do the best he knew and could, under his peculiar circumstances.

“When the time came for him to step down as president on 7th January 2001 he obliged and obviously tried to contain whatever reservations he had about me and my government that succeeded him and his government, within the bounds of the national constitution of 1992.

“In this regard, whether doubts persisted about his commitment to democracy rule became attenuated and earned him a legacy of contributing to the sustenance of democratic governance of our country to his demise. History would give him a balanced place in the annals of our nation.”

A few weeks ago, when I visited him with some family members to express our sympathies over the passing of his mother, I said to President Rawlings, “It looks like the world will have to ‘endure’ you for sometime, considering your mum lived beyond 100.” He laughed out loud. RIP pic.twitter.com/SHta6c9JIz

— Gabby Otchere-Darko (@GabbyDarko) November 12, 2020