Ghana mourns former First Lady Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, dead at 76

Ghana’s former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings — a trailblazing women’s rights advocate and widow of ex-President Jerry John Rawlings — has died at the age of 76.

Presidential spokesperson Felix Kwakye Ofosu confirmed that Mrs. Agyeman-Rawlings passed away on Thursday morning after a brief illness.

Her death comes nearly five years after that of her husband, Ghana’s longest-serving leader, who ruled the country through two military coups before becoming a democratically elected president.

Tributes have flooded social media from across Ghana and beyond, honouring the former first lady’s decades-long fight for women’s empowerment and political participation.

Later on Thursday, members of the Rawlings family visited former President John Mahama to officially announce her passing. Mahama leads the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the political party founded by her late husband.

As First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings established the 31st December Women’s Movement — a landmark initiative that championed women’s economic empowerment, community development, and education. Her work was instrumental in shaping Ghana’s 1989 inheritance law and embedding gender equality provisions in the 1992 constitution.

Born in November 1948 in Cape Coast, she studied art and textiles at university before marrying Jerry Rawlings in 1977. The couple had four children, including Dr. Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings, who currently serves as a Member of Parliament under the NDC.

Ghana’s parliament has adjourned its sitting in her honour, as the nation prepares for official mourning to celebrate one of its most influential and pioneering female leaders.