Hilla Limann, GCMG (12 December 1934 – 23 January 1998)[1] was a Ghanaian diplomat and politician who served the President of Ghana from 24 September 1979 to 31 December 1981. He served as a diplomat in Lomé, Togo and Geneva, Switzerland.[2][3]
Dr. Limann worked as the head, Europe Desk, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ghana between 1965 and 1968.[4] During 1967, he was a member of the Constitution Commission which drafted the 1969 Constitution 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.[3]
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.[7]
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 People's National Convention, a new party he founded, in the presidential election that year. He received 6.7% of the popular vote in the elections, coming third.[6] He remained active among the Nkrumahist political movement in Ghana until his death.
Addendum
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.[citation needed]
Death and burial
Limann had chronic health problems and later died of natural causes. He was survived by his wife, Fulera Limann, and seven children: Lariba Montia (née Limann), Baba Limann, Sibi Andan (née Limann), Lida Limann, Daani Limann, Zilla Limann and Salma Limann. He was buried at private burial ceremony in his home town, Gwollu in the Sisala District of the Upper West Region at midnight on 1 March 1998. A government delegation led by the then Minister of Defence, Alhaji Mahama Iddrisu were present to mourn with the family.[8]
Hilla Limann Foundation
The Hilla Limann Foundation is a charity that was launched on the commemoration of the 40th anniversary of his presidency in September 2019. Its aims are to end the abuse of human rights through education, championing the cause of human development for the poor and vulnerable, engender enlightenment about true democracy and promote the awareness of human rights.[9]
^"Limann knighted by Queen". Ghana News. 10 (6). Washington DC: Embassy of Ghana: 4. June 1981. Archived from the original on 28 January 2021. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
