Akufo-Addo Pays Tribute to Nana Konadu: ‘Remarkable Role Model’ Whose Legacy of Women’s Empowerment Endures

Former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has led tributes to the late Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, hailing her as a “remarkable woman” and “role model for women in Ghana and across Africa” whose unwavering commitment to gender advocacy and social development will resonate for generations. In a poignant statement issued on September 23, Akufo-Addo and his wife, Rebecca, expressed “deep sorrow” over the passing of the longest-serving First Lady in Ghana’s history, who succumbed to a short illness at age 77.

“Her commitment to the growth of the women’s movement in Ghana and Africa can never be forgotten. She was a warm and affectionate woman, with a good sense of humour and was excellent company,” Akufo-Addo reflected, underscoring her foundational role in the 31st December Women’s Movement, which she established in 1982 to empower women through economic and political initiatives. The movement, a cornerstone of her legacy alongside her husband, the late President Jerry John Rawlings, mobilized thousands for education, health, and entrepreneurship, influencing policies that boosted female literacy from 40% in the 1980s to over 80% today.

Akufo-Addo extended heartfelt condolences to the Rawlings family, praying, “Rebecca, my children and I extend our deepest condolences to her children and family on this sad occasion. May her soul rest peacefully in the bosom of the Almighty, until the Last Day of the Resurrection, when we shall meet again.”

His words echo a broader outpouring of grief from across the political aisle, including President John Dramani Mahama’s praise of her as a “colossus of our democracy” and the Asantehene’s personal condolences, highlighting her recent attendance at the Dote Yie rites for the late Asantehemaa.

Nana Konadu’s death on October 23 has prompted calls for a state funeral befitting her stature as Ghana’s first female presidential candidate in 2016.

The family, through head Oheneba Lovelace Prempeh, has requested privacy, with arrangements to be announced by the government. As tributes pour in, her enduring impact— from founding the National Democratic Party in 2006 to her lifelong fight for the marginalized—remains a beacon for women’s progress in a nation where she once declared, “Power is not in holding office, but in uplifting the people.”