Madam Fulera Limann, widow of former President Hilla Limann, has described the overthrow of her husband as “needless and uncalled for.”
She has, therefore, asked former President Jerry John Rawlings to apologise because his husband’s “removal from office was unjustifiably done.”
Breaking her silence 35 years after her husband was overthrown, Madam Fulera, as she is popularly referred to, said the reason former president Limann contested the 1992 election was to prove to Ghanaians that he did nothing wrong to warrant such “needless removal..
She was speaking at a lecture organised by the People’s National Convention (PNC) to commemorate 35 years after the swearing in of her husband as President of Ghana.
The three-hour event, which was on the theme “The Limann We Know”, brought together key members of the PNC, including the party’s chairman, Alhaji Ahmed Ramadan and 2012 presidential candidate, Hassan Ayariga.
Background
Dr Limann assumed office as president on September 24, 1979 having had power transferred to him by Flt Lt. Jerry John Rawlings then chairman of a junta, Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC). He was, however, overthrown by the same was overthrown by former President Rawlings on December 31, 1981, after being in office for 27 months.
Following the 1979 coup, Limann was elected President on the People’s National Party ticket (now PNC).
He stood for the elections following the disqualification of Alhaji Imoru Egala by the then ruling Supreme Military Council and won 62 per cent of the popular vote in the second round of voting.
In 1992, at the end of the PNDC military rule that overthrew him, Dr Limann once again found himself involved in politics and stood as the candidate of the PNC in the presidential election that year.
He received 6.7 per cent of the popular vote in the elections, coming third. He remained active among the Nkrumaist political movement in Ghana.
Dr Limann died of natural causes and was survived by his wife, Mrs Fulera Limann, and seven children: Lariba Montia (née Limann), Baba Limann, Sibi Andan (née Limann), Lida Limann, Daani Limann, Zilla Limann and Salma Limann.
After the hand-over ceremony in 1979, Military intelligence personnel consistently reported destabilising activities of former members of the AFRC. Dr Limman insisted that there were no legal justifications to hold them in custody under a democratic dispensation. This decision eventually cost him the presidency and the years of humiliation and alienation he suffered at the hands of the Rawlings administration.
Limann’s legacy
Touching on some of the exceptional leadership skills exhibited by Dr Limann, Prof Antwi-Danso said the former president did well to lead an “all-inclusive government where he allowed institutions to work without interfering in their affairs.”
Mrs Limann lauded the leadership of the PNC for instituting a day to honour her husband and called for unity in the party to continue the legacy of Dr Limann.
According to her, the PNC could become a strong and formidable party if the grass roots and the leadership would team up and build the pillars within the party.
Mrs Limann described her husband as a man of peace, unity and one who involved all in the building of the nation, adding that those attributes continued to distinguish him from other leaders in the country.
