The Queen Mother of the Ashanti Kingdom, Asantehemaa, Nana Konadu Yiadom III has passed on at the age of 98 years .
The Oyoko Family confirmed the passing of the second most powerful person in Asanteman to the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II at an emergency Asanteman Traditional Council meeting on Monday.
Born Nana Ama Konadu, Nana Konadu Yiadom III was the 14th Asantehemaa and the biological sister of the current Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.
She became the Asantehemaa 5 years ago following the death of her mother, Nana Afia Kobi Serwaa Ampem II, the then Asantehemaa.
Nana Konadu Yiadom is highly respected for her loyalty and counsel, strength, and devotion to tradition, having played a critical role in the preservation of Asante culture as she guided Asanteman in support of the reign of her brother, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.
Her presence at the Manhyia Palace was not only a symbol of stability and unity within the royal family but also in the broader Asanteman.
The Oyoko Family confirmed the death to the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II
Though details of her passing are scanty, family sources say Nana Konadu Yiadom III passed at the dawn of August 7, 2025.
The one-week observation of the late Asantehemaa is scheduled for Thursday, August 21, 2025.
Nana Ama Konadu Yiadom III was born in 1927 to the 13th Asantehemaa, Nana Afia Kobi Serwaa Ampem III (1977-2016), and Opanin Kofi Foffie, also known as Koofie or Keewuo of Besease near Atimatim, a suburb of Kumasi.
He was a carpenter by profession. Nana Ama Konadu Yiadom III, the 14th Queen of Asante, was the firstborn of Asantehemaa Nana Afia Kobi’s five children, the youngest of whom is Asantehene Otumfour Osei Tutu II.
In her teens, traditional puberty rites were performed for her to usher her into womanhood. After that, she got married to Opanin Kwame Boateng, a blacksmith by profession who hailed from Aduman, near Kumasi.
At a very early age, just when she was a little over a year old and being breastfed, Nana Panin was separated from her biological mother and given to her aunt (mother’s sister), Nana Afia Konadu, at Ashanti New Town (Ash-Town), a suburb of Kumasi.
Nana Ama Konadu Yiadom III, who, known in early life as Nana Panin, became well educated for life through informal palace education, though she did not go through any formal education.
In 1959, at the age of about 22, Nana Panin was christened and baptised into the saviour church of Ghana with the Christian name Ruth.
She was also of the Anglican church by convention, for every Asantehene and Asantehemaa is an automatic member and patron of the Anglican Church.
By occupation, Nana Konadu Yiadom III was a caterer who specialised in local dishes. She was also into food crop farming and petty trading.
Her hobbies were cooking, music, and dance. In 2016, when her mother, the Asantehemaa, Nana Afia Kobi Serwaa Ampem III, passed on to eternity at the age of one hundred and eleven (111), Nana Ama Konadu (Nana Panin) was chosen to take her place on the 6th of February, 2017, with the stool name Nana Ama Konadu Yiadom III.
This fulfilled the prophecy of the Kwaku Firi Shrine through Baafuo Osei Akoto, a senior Linguist of the Asantehene.
During her reign from 2017 to 2025, Nana Konadu Yiadom III was known to be fair and firm, honest, and a good advisor. She had her own court where all her judgements were hailed as fair.
The saviour church of Ghana has named a school at Bonwire after her, Nana Konadu Saviour School.
May she rest in perfect peace.
Tribute by O-B Safo Kantanka (Teacher Kantanka)
