President John Dramani Mahama has expressed profound sadness over the death of Ghana’s former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings.
On Thursday, October 23, 2025, President Mahama received a delegation of her children and family members, who officially informed him of her passing. Later that day, during the swearing-in of 37 new High Court judges at the Jubilee House in Accra, the President called for a moment of silence in her honour.
“May the Almighty God grant her peaceful rest in His bosom. Amen,” he said.
Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings passed away at the age of 76 at the Ridge Hospital in Accra. She was a towering figure in Ghana’s political, social, and women’s empowerment movements.
Born on November 17, 1948, in Cape Coast, she was educated at Ghana International School and Achimota School, where she met her future husband, the late President Jerry John Rawlings. She later studied Art and Textiles at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and earned a diploma in Interior Design from the London College of Arts.
Throughout her life, Nana Konadu continued to advance her education, obtaining qualifications in Personnel Management, Development Studies, and fellowships in Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership in the United States.
As First Lady, she served during two pivotal periods in Ghana’s history — first under the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) in 1979 and later from 1981 to 2001 under the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) and the Fourth Republic.
In 1982, she founded the 31st December Women’s Movement, which transformed the lives of over two million Ghanaian women by promoting social, political, and economic empowerment. Her initiatives championed literacy, family planning, and women’s inclusion in governance.
Nana Konadu also made history in 2016 as Ghana’s first female presidential candidate, contesting on the ticket of the National Democratic Party (NDP) — a party she founded after leaving the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
A passionate advocate for gender equality and social justice, her influence helped Ghana become the first nation to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1991. She also played a vital role in passing the Intestate Succession Law, which protected widows’ inheritance rights and challenged discriminatory customary practices.
Her enduring legacy lives on through the generations of women she inspired to pursue leadership and political roles, significantly increasing female representation in Ghana’s Parliament during the 1990s.
