Former First Lady Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, wife of the late former President Jerry John Rawlings and Ghana’s longest-serving First Lady, was laid to rest on Friday, November 28, following a solemn state funeral held at the Black Star Square in Accra.
Thousands of mourners and national leaders gathered to pay their final respects to the towering figure who held the position across her husband’s military and civilian administrations, serving from 1979 under the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), from 1981 to 1993 under the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC), and throughout his two constitutional terms from 1993 to 2001.
The ceremony saw a rare assembly of Ghana’s political leadership, including former Presidents John Agyekum Kufuor and Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo with his wife Rebecca, President John Dramani Mahama and former First Lady Lordina Mahama, and former Vice-President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and his wife Samira Bawumia, alongside the Speaker of Parliament Rt. Hon. Alban S.K. Bagbin, chiefs, and religious leaders.
Beyond her role as First Lady, Nana Konadu was lauded as a pioneer in women’s empowerment and political activism, having founded the influential 31st December Women’s Movement which honoured her for advancing gender rights across the country. In 2012, she split from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to form the National Democratic Party (NDP), contesting the presidency on its ticket in 2016.
Tributes delivered by her family described her as a pillar of moral guidance whose “strength, compassion and discipline shaped generations,” while the Speaker of Parliament noted that her legacy would encourage young girls to believe that “leadership has no gender.”
The ceremony, marked by hymns, prayers, and traditional rites, also saw the NDC praise her foundational work in promoting social justice. Following the final honours, the procession moved from the Black Star Square to the Chardo Military Cemetery, where she was interred near the grave of former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, a symbolic placement underscoring her stature.
Ruth Abla ADJORLOLO
