| 14th | Top Ghanaian politicians |
| Dr. Hilla Limann | |
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2nd President of Ghana
(Only President of Ghana's Third Republic) |
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In office 24 September, 1979 – 31 December, 1981 |
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| Vice President | J.W.S. de-Graft Johnson |
| Preceded by | Kwame
Nkrumah (President, deposed in 1966) Jerry Rawlings (Head of state) |
| Succeeded by | Jerry Rawlings (Head of state, President since 1993) |
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| Born | 12 December 1934 Gwollu, Gold Coast |
| Died | 23 January 1998 (aged 63) Accra, Ghana |
| Political party | People's National Party |
| Spouse(s) | Mrs. Fulera Limann |
Hilla Limann (12 December, 1934 – 23 January, 1998) was the President of Ghana from 24 September, 1979 to 31 December, 1981. Eventually he became a diplomat, and served in Switzerland. Limann, whose original last name was Babini, was born in the northern Ghanaian town of Gwollu in the Sissala West District of the Upper West Region to a poor family. He managed to gain an excellent education, and took up an academic career.
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Hilla completed his basic school education at the Government Middle School, Tamale in 1949. Between 1957 to 1960, he studied Political Science at the London School of Economics. He subsequently completed a Diploma in French at the Sorbonne University, France. He also obtained a BA (Hons) degree in History at the University of London and a Ph.D in Political Science and Constitutional Law at the University of Paris.
Dr. Limann worked as the Head, Europe Desk, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ghana between 1965 and 1968. During 1967, he was a member of the Constitution Commission which drafted the 1969 Constituiton of Ghana . In 1968, he became the Head of Chancery/Official Secretary at the Ghana embassy in Lomé, Togo. He was appointed Counsellor at Ghana's Permanent Mission in Geneva, Switzerland in 1971. He assumed the position of Head, Europe, the Americans Southeast Asia Desk back in Ghana at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in June 1975.
Following the 1979 coup led by Jerry Rawlings, Limann, though almost unknown even in Ghana, was elected President on the People's National Party ticket. He stood for the elections following the disqualification of Alhaji Imoru Egala by the then ruling Supreme Military Council and won 62% of the popular vote in the second round of voting.[1] Dr. Limann assumed office as president on 24 September 1979. He was an economic moderate, and supported democratic values and Pan-Africanism. He was deposed in a coup by Rawlings on 31 December, 1981. He thus was the only president of the third republic of Ghana.
In 1992, at the end of the PNDC military rule that overthrew him. Dr. Limann again got involved in politics and stood as the candidate of the People's National Convention in the presidential election that year. He received 6.7% of the popular vote in the elections, coming third.[2] He remained active among the Nkrumahist political movement in Ghana.
Dr. Limann had chronic health problems and finally died of natural causes. He was survived by his wife, Mrs. Fulera Limann, and seven children: Lariba Montia (née Limann), Baba Limann, Sibi Andan (née Limann), Lida Limann, Danni Limann, Zilla Limann and Salma Limann.
After the handover 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.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Jerry Rawlings Military Head of state |
President of
Ghana 1979 – 1981 |
Succeeded by Jerry Rawlings Military Head of state |
| Party political offices | ||
| First | People's National Party
presidential candidate 1979 |
Parties banned |
| First | People's National Convention
presidential candidate 1992 |
Succeeded by Edward Mahama |
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