Correspondence from the Volta Region:
Residents in the Ho Municipality are currently in a state of mourning following the sudden demise of former president Jerry John Rawlings.
Rawlings died aged 73 on Thursday, November, 12 at the Accra based Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital where he was on admission for about a week.
His death came just two weeks after he buried his mother, Victoria Agbotui.
Reactions and tributes have since been trooping in from Ghanaians and non-Ghanaians.
Residents in the Volta Region where Rawlings was hailed from, could also not hide how hard they have been hit by news of their demise.
Some residents in the Ho Municipality who spoke to GhanaWeb said the death of Rawlings will have a huge effect on the region. For others, the former President is irreplaceable and his legacy unchanged.
“Someone will say an Iroko tree has fallen. His death has created a huge vacuum in the Volta Region, in fact in the whole of Ghana, one resident said.
For Courage Elikplim Agyei he believes the former President’s constant fight of corruption is a legacy that will live on.
“…he was a leader that didn’t condone any form of corruption, he speaks with vigor, and whatever he feels like saying he says it without looking elsewhere. He won’t even sell his conscience for anything…” he disclosed.
Another resident, Prosper Kwaku Toh disclosed to GhanaWeb that it was during Rawlings’ tenure that he got the chance to start wearing footwear.
He recollected that it was during his tenure in office as President of the Republic that he saw light in his town for the first time.
“It was because of Rawlings that some of us are seeing cloth and footwear today, in the past we had to queue for basic things such as kerosene and bread.” he said.
Franklin Ashigbie, another resident also said “most of us looked to him as role model so his death caused a lot of pain to us”.
“…one thing I just like about him is the courage and the charisma within him that he expresses whenever he is addressing a group of people,” he added.
