Former President Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings, recounting 20 years of ruling Ghana, says it was not an easy journey.
According to him, he and his wife worked tirelessly both under his military regime and civilian administration.
“My wife was not sitting at the Castle drinking tea. She was in the villages around the country; she was sleeping in very rough places. We had no choice but to get involved with the people and that was tiring,” he recounted.
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Speaking in an interview on Accra-based radio station, the former president, who was considered as a high handed ruler, disclosed his leadership style was related to being compassionate and having respect for the people.
“However, there are those who lead using the medium of fear; the fear factor and people who use the medium of fear are able to relax and orders are obeyed because people are afraid of the government.
“But knowing very well that my intervention drove away a lot of that fear factor, there was nothing you could do. Besides, I resented the use of the fear factor,” he said.
However, he said it was unfortunate his quest to drive out the fear factor from his appointees actually made them afraid of him.
“It was a very tiring business because you were not enjoying the luxury of giving orders. You’ve to be on the ground and have the time to lead things,” he added.
