Former First Lady of Ghana, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, has passed away at the age of 76 at the Ridge Hospital in the country’s capital, Accra, according to sources close to the family.
Nana Konadu, the wife of the late former President of Ghana, Jerry John Rawlings, was Ghana’s longest-serving First Lady.
She was First Lady from June 4, 1979, to September 24, 1979, under the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC). She also served from December 31, 1981, to January 6, 1993, under the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC).
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She was also First Lady during her husband Rawlings’ two constitutional terms from January 7, 1993 to January 6, 2001.
In 2012, she left her husband’s party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and formed the National Democratic Party (NDP). She however couldn’t contest the general elections because the Electoral Commission disqualified her and some other presidential candidates for failing to meet requirements before deadline they had been given to file nomination documents.
In 2016, Konadu contested again on the ticket of the NDP, making her the first woman to contest the presidency of Ghana.
She was also known for her organization that works to empower women — the 31st December Women’s Movement (DWM) she founded in 1982.
Seven years ago, Konadu launched her first book, It Takes a Woman, a biography about her journey in politics and other social activities starting from her youth.
Tributes have already started pouring in from across the country as Ghanaians mourn the loss of one of the nation’s most influential figures.
