Former President, Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings has made a shocking revelation probably not known to a lot of people. According to him, he was not born with ‘Rawlings’ as his surname as we all thought.
As a young stud willing and eager to join the Ghana Armed Forces, he accepted the decision to have his last name switched when the GAF wrote back to him.
In an interview with the newly established Asaase Radio, the former head of state who is known for not mincing words revealed that his last name is actually ‘John.’
“I was born Jerry Rawlings John. I was named after my father, James Ramsey John, a chemist from Castle Douglas in Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland,” the former leader told Asaase Radio.
“However, when I applied to join the Armed Forces they replied to me, then they switched the position of ‘John’ and ‘Rawlings,’” he revealed.
Rawlings has since maintained the surname for decades and has become a household name in Ghana and beyond.
Jerry John Rawlings is a former Ghanaian military leader and subsequent politician who ruled the country from 1981 to 2001 and also for a brief period in 1979. He led a military junta until 1992, and then served two terms as the democratically elected President of Ghana.