Watch how Rawlings presided over Nkrumah’s third reburial

By 1992, Ghana’s founder and first president, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, was being given his third and final burial since his death in 1972.

At the time, Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings, who is also now late, was the president and he presided over the ceremony.

GhanaWeb put together a story on that ceremony from a video that emerged online in 2021.

Read the full details of what happened, and then watch the supporting video below:

A footage of the former president Jerry Rawlings presiding over the reburial of Ghana’s first Prime Minister and President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, has surfaced.

The reburial ceremony of Dr. Nkrumah, which took place on Wednesday, July 1, 1992, captures the now late president Flight Lt. Jerry John Rawlings presiding over a state burial filled with military honors.

The footage, in possession of GhanaWeb, captures the mortal remains of Dr. Nkrumah covered with the Ghana flag on his casket and placed on a special military carriage, led by a procession.

A portion of Jerry Rawlings’ speech read, “On this 33rd anniversary of Ghana’s Republic Day, we are laying Dr. Nkrumah’s body to rest at the site of his greatest triumph.”

This would be the third burial of Dr. Nkrumah, who passed away on April 27, 1972, while in exile in Guinea. He was first buried in Conakry, Guinea, in May 1972.

The Military Head of State at the time of Nkrumah’s death, Colonel Ignatius Acheampong, after the first burial held in Guinea, subsequently made arrangements for Dr. Nkrumah to be reburied in Ghana. General Acheampong then led a government delegation to Guinea for the mortal remains of Dr. Nkrumah.

Following the arrival of the remains, the family of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah maintained that their beloved son be given a second and befitting burial in his hometown of Nkroful in the Western Region.

The family’s wishes were granted, and the burial ceremony took place at Nkroful.

Meanwhile, Flight Lt. Jerry John Rawlings, who had ascended to power after an overthrow of the Supreme Military Council government of General Akuffo, decided to give the country’s first president a third befitting burial with full military honors at the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum.

In attendance at the burial ceremony was special guest, Sam Nujoma, a long-term leader of the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO), who later became the President of Namibia in 1989.



This article was first published on GhanaWeb on Saturday, January 30, 2021.