Ghana’s former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, has passed away at the age of 77.
According to sources close to the family, she died in the early hours of Thursday, October 23, 2025, at the Ridge Hospital in Accra. She was born on November 17, 1948, in Cape Coast, in the Central Region of Ghana.
As of the time of filing this report, there has been no official statement from the Rawlings family or government representatives confirming the cause of death.
Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, wife of the late former President Jerry John Rawlings, was a towering figure in Ghana’s political and social landscape, respected for her outspokenness, leadership, and dedication to public service.
She played a central role in Ghanaian politics for over four decades and was widely recognised for her advocacy on women’s empowerment and social development.
After breaking away from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) — the party her husband founded — she went on to establish the National Democratic Party (NDP), becoming one of the few women to lead a political party in Ghana.
In recent months, Nana Konadu maintained an active public profile. She was among the dignitaries who laid wreaths at the Forecourt of the Jubilee House to honour eight public servants who lost their lives in a helicopter crash.
She attended the ceremony with her children and family members to pay their last respects to the victims.
Another of her recent public appearances was at the Dote Yie funeral rites for the late Asantehemaa, Nana Konadu Yiadom III, held in Kumasi. She attended the event alongside two of her adult children, Amina Agyeman-Rawlings and Kimathi Agyeman-Rawlings, to console Otumfuo Osei Tutu II and the Asante Royal Family.
Her late husband, Jerry John Rawlings, Ghana’s longest-serving head of state, passed away on November 12, 2020, at the age of 73.
Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings leaves behind a remarkable legacy of political courage, public service, and advocacy for women’s rights, making her one of the most influential figures in Ghana’s post-independence history.
