The death of former President Rawlings has thrown the whole nation into a state of deep shock and sorrow. This oak tree has been such an everpresent force in our national discourse that we all probably thought he would always be with us. A few weeks to elections, his voice was expected to be with us as we made our minds as to who becomes our next president.

President Rawlings is the most imperfect hero you could think of, but then again, perfection is for the gods. No hero in history is perfect. Perhaps, dwelling on how good or bad he was would ruin the gift he was to us. We need to focus on the aspects of his life that can be a light in the darkness of our country. After all, even his flaws are lessons that can guide the nation. He is the most popular leader the nation ever had, and that is not even because he has served the longest. He has been so charismatic for so long that it is difficult to imagine our politics without him.

President Rawlings was really far from perfect. Indeed, shortly after the announcement of his demise, there have been some statements on both the mainstream and social media pertaining to his mixed legacy. Several others in the nation will definitely have quite negative views about the legacy of Rawlings. And they are probably justified. It is probably futile to attempt to defend the flaws of President Rawlings, because in all honesty, his military regime did indeed infringe on human rights to a great degree. However, it is important to point out with the level of insanity and rot that was present in the system, it was always going to be difficult to clean the system without abuses by security agencies. To some degree, some of these abuses - the minor ones - were supported by the general population because they understood the importance of rooting out corruption, instilling discipline and making the economy stable. For example, growing up in Tamale, we knew of a woman called Hajia Gurumpaga who was publicly flogged during the days of the revolution for not selling her goods at controlled prices. She had Rawlings' posters all over her store and loved him regardless.

Recent documentaries by Ghanaian media have only further detailed and made popular some of the atrocities committed during his era. Despite all these, Rawlings still commanded huge respect accross the nation. Why? The answer to this probably contains the truth about what his greatest legacy would be.

Yes, he led us through the days of scarcity of goods, through the Structural Adjustment Programs to days of more economic stability. Yes, also, he led us through the dark days of military coup d'etats to constitutional democracy. And yes, Rawlings has fought corruption more than any other Ghanaian president in history. But neither of these may be his lasting legacy. His unending passion for speaking the truth about the ills of the society will be what we remember him most fondly for. He came to symbolise the voice the masses never had, or never cared to use. Never before did any speech of his fail to live to the expectations of the masses. This is why they love him so much. His political friends and foes may have seen him in his last years as being troublesome, but Rawlings had long evolved from a politician to the voice of reason. After twenty years on the throne, it is surprising people even thought Rawlings really cared about what politicians thought about his views. He must have known long ago how politics works, and he chose to be on the side of the common man.

Our democracy has created a space for Rawlings to always live in. That voice of reason and truth is going to be a necessity as we try to make it to the promised land. His greatest legacy will be that desire to speak truth to power. When people mention Rawlings from today, it would evoke thoughts of a great man fighting for people.

Probably, never before had any leader of any nation made so much name and then sacrifice it all after leaving power, at the altar of championing the cause of the poor. People expect a statesman or woman to fold his or her arms and see out his or her last days diplomatically. Rawlings didn't care about being socially or politically correct. He cared about the plight of the people. And it really hurt him to be misnderstood and misjudged at times. Rawlings never stopped talking. Rawlings never stopped complaining. Rawlings never stopped fighting. For the masses. His death is a solemn call on us all, as children of the land, to refuse to be destroyers of the nation or to be cynics who believe the rot cannot be reversed, to find our voices and use it.