“She Was for Ghana”: Nation Mourns Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings | By Dominick Andoh | Ghana is mourning the passing of one of its most influential and trailblazing women, Former First Lady Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, who died on Thursday, October 23, 2025, after a short illness.
The news of her death was confirmed by the Office of the President, which described her as a remarkable patriot whose life’s work was devoted to Ghana’s progress and the empowerment of its people.
For over four decades, Nana Konadu stood as a formidable voice for women, children, and the voiceless. She was not just a First Lady; she was a reformer, an advocate, and a nation builder. Her life was deeply intertwined with Ghana’s post-independence story, one marked by resilience, purpose, and a relentless belief that the country’s transformation must begin with its people.
Born on November 17, 1948, in Cape Coast, Nana Konadu Agyeman was educated at Ghana International School and later at Achimota School, where she met her future husband, the late Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings. She proceeded to the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), earning a degree in Art and Design, before pursuing further studies in the United Kingdom. Even at a young age, her sense of duty to Ghana was evident, she saw education, self-reliance, and equality as tools for national progress.
As First Lady, Nana Konadu redefined the role. She founded the 31st December Women’s Movement, which became one of the most influential grassroots organisations in Ghana’s history. Through it, she championed women’s rights, child welfare, and rural development long before such causes became global priorities.
Under her leadership, thousands of rural women gained access to microcredit, skills training, and healthcare. Her advocacy contributed to the passage of policies promoting gender equality and women’s representation in decision-making.
For Nana Konadu, women’s empowerment was not a slogan, it was a strategy for national development.
In politics, she broke ceilings and norms. In 2012, she founded the National Democratic Party (NDP), and in 2016, she became the first woman in Ghana’s history to contest the presidency, a move that underscored her courage and independence of thought. Though her bid for the highest office did not succeed, it inspired a generation of young Ghanaian women to see leadership as a calling, not a privilege.
Throughout her life, she was known for her candour and her fearless defense of what she believed was right for Ghana. She stood firm beside her husband through the turbulence of political transitions, yet she was her own force, respected across party lines for her intellect, discipline, and sense of duty.
Her death marks the end of an era. Together with her late husband, Nana Konadu helped shape modern Ghana, through reform, advocacy, and a shared belief that the destiny of the nation rested in the hands of its people.
Her last public appearance was at the final funeral rites of the late Asantehemaa, “Dote Yie,” where she was seen greeting Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, surrounded by her children, Zanetor, Yaa Asantewaa, Amina, and Kimathi, a poignant final image of a matriarch whose life was anchored in service and family.
Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings leaves behind a legacy rooted in compassion, empowerment, and unwavering patriotism. Her story is not just that of a First Lady, it is the story of a woman who believed that the true measure of leadership is service.
“She Was for Ghana”: Nation Mourns Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings | AviationGhana
