253 Chapter 16 Post-Presidency of Jerry Rawlings and the African Union Timothy Adivilah Balag’kutu Introduction On 8 October 2010, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AU or AUC), Jean Ping, appointed the late Jerry John Rawlings, then Ex-President of Ghana, as High Representative for the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). The appointment followed the decision on the Report of the AU Peace and Security Council on its activi- ties and the State of Peace and Security in Africa, which was adopted by the Assembly of the Union at its 15th Ordinary Session held in July in Kampala, Uganda (AU, October, 2010). The Assembly had endorsed the communiqué of the 15th Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) on July 5, 2010 that requested the Chairperson to appoint a High-Level personality to mobilize support for peace and reconciliation in Somalia, and draw more international attention to the crisis in the country. Peace and security in Somalia remained a major concern to the AU and its devel- opment partners (AU, October, 2010). In the view of AU and its partners, the mis- sion required a respected and infuential continental personality with demonstrated interest and zeal in the welfare of all Africans. The daunting task of High Representative entailed mobilizing and mediating among antagonizing elements for peace (AU, January, 2012a), reconciliation and security. The AU found then Ex-President of Ghana, His Excellency Jerry John Rawlings with the requisite cali- ber for the task (AU, October, 2010). The appointment of President Rawlings repre- sented a strong commitment on the part of the AU and its partners to reconciliation, peace, security and stability in Somalia. The AU believed that Rawlings’ contribu- tion would enhance the impact of its mission in Somalia. His respected and infuen- tial input would also help to expand the political base and enhance legitimacy of the T. A. Balag’kutu (*) Centre for Peace and Security Research, University of Professional Studies (UPSA), Accra, Ghana © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 F. Kumah-Abiwu, S. O. Abidde (eds.), Jerry John Rawlings, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-14667-1_16