Former First Lady of Ghana, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, has passed away at the Ridge Hospital in Accra, sources close to the family have confirmed to Citi Newsroom. She was 76 years old.
Nana Konadu, wife of the late former President Jerry John Rawlings, was Ghana’s longest-serving First Lady, holding the position across both the military and civilian administrations led by her husband.
She first served from June 4, 1979, to September 24, 1979, under the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), and again from December 31, 1981, to January 6, 1993, under the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC). She continued in the role during her husband’s two constitutional terms from January 7, 1993, to January 6, 2001.
Beyond her ceremonial duties, Nana Konadu was a trailblazer in women’s empowerment and political activism. She founded the 31st December Women’s Movement, which championed the economic and social advancement of women across Ghana, and later established the National Democratic Party (NDP).
In June 2012, she formally broke away from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to form the NDP. Although she and 11 other presidential aspirants were disqualified by the Electoral Commission that year for failing to meet nomination requirements, she contested again in 2016 on the NDP ticket—making history as the first woman to contest the presidency of Ghana.
In November 2018, she launched her first book, It Takes a Woman—a 331-page autobiography chronicling her journey from her early years in 1948 to her decades of political and social advocacy. The publication, the first in a planned four-volume series, offered “deep insights into her political activism and experiences.”
Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings leaves behind a legacy of courage, leadership, and advocacy for women’s rights, standing as one of the most influential figures in Ghana’s modern political history.
