- Agyeman-Rawlings died on Thursday morning after a brief illness
- She also contributed to the gender equality provisions
- She contested for the NDC’s presidential ticket but was unsuccessful
Ghana’s former First Lady and women’s rights advocate, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, widow of ex-President Jerry John Rawlings, has died at 76.
Eko Hot Blog gathered that Agyeman-Rawlings died on Thursday morning after a brief illness, according to presidential spokesperson Felix Kwakye Ofosu. Her family formally informed President John Mahama of her passing later that day.
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Mahama, leader of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), founded by the late Rawlings, paid tribute to her memory during the swearing-in of new High Court Justices.
Born in November 1948 in Cape Coast, Agyeman-Rawlings attended Achimota School in Accra, where she met her husband. She later studied art and textiles at university while Rawlings pursued a career in the Air Force, becoming a flight lieutenant in 1978.
When Rawlings seized power in 1979 at age 32, she became one of his closest advisers, forming a formidable and sometimes controversial political partnership with him.
Agyeman-Rawlings was a trailblazer for women’s empowerment and was instrumental in the 1989 law guaranteeing inheritance rights for women and children. She also contributed to the gender equality provisions in Ghana’s 1992 constitution.
She founded and led the 31st December Women’s Movement, which promoted women’s education and entrepreneurship. In 2012, she contested for the NDC’s presidential ticket but was unsuccessful.
Tributes have continued to pour in across Ghana, with parliament adjourning in her honour. The Ministry of Energy’s spokesperson, Richmond Rockson, described her as “a visionary leader whose courage, loyalty, and advocacy for women left a lasting legacy.”
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