GHANA’s former First Lady Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings has died at the age of 76.
She was the widow of Ghana’s longest-serving leader, Jerry John Rawlings, who died five years ago.
He led two coups before twice being elected president in multiparty polls.
Social media is awash with tributes to the former first lady, politician and women’s rights advocate, who Ghanaian presidential spokesperson Felix Kwakye Ofosu said had died after a short illness on Thursday morning.
Her family visited President John Mahama in the afternoon to officially notify him of her death. The president leads the National Democratic Congress (NDC) party, founded by Jerry Rawlings after he took power.
Agyeman-Rawlings also had political ambitions – but lost out in her bid to become the NDC’s presidential candidate in 2012.
As first lady, she founded the 31st December Women’s Movement to empower women and teach them how to earn money to develop their communities. It was named after the date of her husband’s second coup, which took place in 1981.
Born in November 1948, Agyeman-Rawlings came from a middle-class family and grew up in the city of Cape Coast.
She met her future husband when she became a boarder at the prestigious Achimota School in the capital, Accra.
Unlike her husband, she went on to get a university education, studying art and textiles.
Jerry Rawlings joined the air force and earned the rank of flight lieutenant in 1978 – a year after the couple were married.
It was not long afterwards that Rawlings, aged 32, took power, with his wife said to be one of his most important advisers.
Young, glamourous and charismatic, they proved a dynamic if controversial duo in the West African nation. Together they had four children and their eldest – Dr Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings – has gone into politics serving as an NDC MP.
The former first lady’s women’s group, initially regarded as an arm of the NDC, is credited with significantly helping women across the country – especially in poorer areas.
Her advocacy also influenced national policy and she played a key role in shaping a law in 1989 that guaranteed inheritance rights for women and children.
She is also credited with contributing to provisions for gender equality in Ghana’s 1992 constitution, which saw the return of multiparty politics.
Ghana’s parliament has adjourned to mark the former first lady’s death as the country prepares to officially mourn one of its most iconic political figures and one who fought for the inclusion of women in politics.