President John Dramani Mahama has expressed deep sorrow over the passing of Ghana’s former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, describing her as a towering figure in the nation’s political and social history.
On Thursday, October 23, 2025, the President received a delegation comprising her children and other family members, who officially informed him of her passing.
Speaking later at the swearing-in ceremony of 37 new High Court judges at the Jubilee House in Accra, President Mahama called for a moment of silence in her memory.
“May the Almighty God grant her peaceful rest in His bosom. Amen,” he said.
Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, aged 76, passed away at the Ridge Hospital in Accra. She was widely recognised for her lifelong dedication to women’s empowerment, gender equality, and national development.
Born on November 17, 1948, in Cape Coast, she attended 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 University of Science and Technology (now KNUST) and obtained a diploma in Interior Design from the London College of Arts.
Throughout her life, Nana Konadu pursued further studies in Personnel Management, Development Studies, and completed fellowships in Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership in the United States.
She served as First Lady during two important eras in Ghana’s history first in 1979 under the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) and later from 1981 to 2001 under the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) and the Fourth Republic.
In 1982, Nana Konadu founded the 31st December Women’s Movement, which became one of Ghana’s most influential women’s organisations. The movement empowered over two million women through programmes in education, entrepreneurship, family planning, and leadership development.
Her advocacy for gender equality and social justice was instrumental in several major national reforms. She played a key role in Ghana’s ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1991 and championed the Intestate Succession Law, which secured inheritance rights for widows and reformed discriminatory customary practices.
In 2016, Nana Konadu made history as the first woman to contest the presidency of Ghana, running on the ticket of the National Democratic Party (NDP), which she founded after parting ways with the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Her enduring legacy lies in the generations of Ghanaian women she inspired to take up leadership roles and participate in governance a movement that significantly enhanced women’s representation in politics and public life across the country.
