President John Mahama with NDC national executives and children of the late former President JJ Rawlings after unveiling the bust
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has renamed its national headquarters in Adabraka “Jerry Rawlings House” in honour of the party’s founder, Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings.
The ceremony, held yesterday on what would have been the late Rawlings’ 79th birthday, comes five years and seven months after his death in November 2020. President John Dramani Mahama led the event, unveiling a commemorative bust of the late former President at the building’s forecourt.
Party stalwarts, members of the national executive committee, and the diplomatic corps joined hundreds of NDC supporters dressed in party colours to witness the christening. The move was carried out in collaboration with the J.J. Rawlings Foundation, an organisation led by the Rawlings family to preserve his political legacy.
Speaking at the event, President Mahama said Rawlings had repeatedly rejected efforts to name monuments after him while he was alive. He disclosed that the late leader declined proposals to name the University for Development Studies and an FPSO vessel for the ENI Sankofa oil field in his honour, despite donating his World Food Prize award as seed funding for UDS.
“Rawlings himself, if he were alive, would have been very uncomfortable with this ceremony,” Mahama said. “He replied to my letter during my previous presidency when I sought his permission to name the FPSO after him. He said, ‘Pass it on to President Kufuor. I prefer to have my name inscribed in the minds and hearts of men than on statues and monuments.’”
Mahama described Rawlings as “a man who was neither vain nor ostentatious,” adding, “Fortunately for us today, he is in no position to object to what we are doing here to immortalise his name.”
The President said renaming the headquarters was meant to embed the party’s history and values into its institution. “It is the place where ideas are debated, policies are formulated, manifestos are written, and decisions are taken in pursuit of our mission to serve the people of Ghana,” he said. “By naming this headquarters after J.J. Rawlings, we ensure future generations will never lose sight of the values and sacrifices that have brought us this far.”
He urged Ghanaians to uphold the principles Rawlings championed: probity, accountability, and selfless service. “We celebrate not only Jerry Rawlings’ life but also the values he embodied — his courage, his conviction in times of uncertainty, and his enduring belief that public office should improve the lives of ordinary citizens,” President Mahama stressed.
NDC National Chairman, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, said the decision followed extensive consultation. He noted that Rawlings “fiercely resisted” attempts to name monuments after him, insisting his legacy should live in the hearts of Ghanaians.
“But today he is no more, and generations are changing,” Asiedu Nketia said. “If we allow his memory to remain only in the hearts and minds of people, it will also die when those hearts and minds pass on. It is well and fitting to name the building after the founder of our party.”
He added that even the late President John Evans Atta Mills, during whose tenure the headquarters was built, would have supported the move.
Kimathi Rawlings, son of the late founder, called the event a “moment of reflection, remembrance and recommitment.”
“By naming this headquarters after Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings, the NDC has permanently inscribed his name into the very home of the ideals, sacrifices and aspirations to which he devoted his life,” he said. “It is a solemn affirmation that conviction, sacrifice and service in the pursuit of justice, accountability and national progress will never be forgotten.”
The NDC said the renaming is aimed at strengthening internal cohesion and reinforcing the party’s ideological identity ahead of future national assignments, anchored on Rawlings’ founding principles of probity, accountability, and social justice.