SUMMARY

The Military faction (forces of Jerry John Rawlings) was an armed group made up of elements of the Ghanaian military, which in 1981 carried out a coup against President Hilla Limann (see Government of Ghana - Military faction (forces of Jerry John Rawlings)).

The armed group was led by Jerry John Rawlings, a young Flight Lieutenant in the air force, who had also led a coup with other junior and non-commissioned officers against the military government previously in 1979 due to increasing economic problems and corruption in Ghana. He had also been responsible for transferring power to the democratically elected civilian government of President Hilla Limann following this coup.

Nonetheless, by 1981, Rawlings accused the government once again of misrule and injustice. On 31 December 1981, they successfully carried out a military coup and installed the Provisional National Defense Council (PNDC) to govern the country. Rawlings was appointed chairman of the PNDC and within the UCDP dataset, the PNDC subsequently became the Government of Ghana.