Today in History: Hilla Limann overthrown by Rawlings in a coup on New Year’s Eve

Today in History, On 31 December 1981 (Exactly 39 years ago) Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings with the support of small group of enlisted and former soldiers launched a second coup and overthrew the government of Hilla Limann of the People’s National Party (PNP)

On June 4, 1979, Ghana was ushered into its morning life with an announcement on radio by Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings of a change in government by the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC).

The Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) was established under his leadership, promising to clean-up Ghana of corruption and injustice.

The Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) ruled from June 1979 to September 1979.

The AFRC organized an election in September 1979 which was won by Hilla Limann of the People’s National Party (PNP). The civilian administration quickly ran into difficulties, of its own making. In 1981, a series of strike wave paralysed the country.



Believing the Limann regime to be unable to resolve Ghana’s neocolonial economic dependency, Jerry John Rawlings led a second coup against Hilla Limann and indicted the entire political class on 31 December 1981. In place of Limann’s People’s National Party, Rawlings established the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) military junta as the official government.