The former aide to the late President Jerry John Rawlings, Victor Smith, has contributed his quota to the unending farewell messages for the charismatic statesman.

According to him, many Ghanaians are unable to accept the truth about the former President's passing because he was a character “larger than life itself”.

"A very likeable person if you had the opportunity to get close to him enough, to appreciate his commitment to social justice and his desire to see others prosper and to live a life of decency.

“He loved life, and I won’t doubt that, at the point of death, he may have wished he could live longer, but the good Lord knows best.  He gives and He takes away. May the good Lord absolve him of all his trespasses,” he states in a brief tribute sighted by JoyNews.

Mr. Smith further describes Mr. Rawlings as a perpetual contributor to the history of Ghana's political development.

"JJ was a very strong personality, very courageous and with conviction on the principles for which he launched the 31st Dec revolution. He took great risks in bringing about the revolution and sustaining it for over 10 years. He had some close encounters with ‘death’ at different times during his adult life until he retired from the high office of head of state.

"His part in the political history of this nation cannot be erased, ever; it doesn’t matter how anyone looks at it," he said.

Meanwhile, funeral rites for the first President of the 4th Republic are underway at the Holy Spirit Cathedral in Adabraka, Accra.

This will be followed with a vigil at the Air Force Officers Mess in Burma Camp, Accra.

The body of the former President will then be laid in state on Monday, January 25, and Tuesday, January 26, at the Accra International Conference Centre for various interest groups and members of the public to have an opportunity to pay their last respects.

Prior to the laying in state, the Anlo Traditional Council will host two days of traditional mourning for the departed former President who hailed from Anlo.

He will receive a full military burial service on Wednesday, January 27.

Former President Rawlings died on November 12, 2020, after a short illness at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.