Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings (born 17 November 1948)[1][2] is a Ghanaian politician who was the First Lady of Ghana from 4 June 1979 to 24 September 1979 and 31 December 1981 to 7 January 2001,[3] both times under President Jerry John Rawlings. In 2016 she became the first woman to run for President of Ghana.
Nana Konadu was born on 17 November 1948, to
J.O.T. Agyeman and his wife. She attended Ghana
International School.[4] Later she moved to Achimota School, where she met Jerry John Rawlings.
She went on to study Art and textiles at the University of Science and Technology. She was
a student leader of her Hall of residence, Africa Hall. In 1975 she
earned an interior design diploma from the London
College of Arts.[5]
Nana Konadu married Rawlings in 1977. They had their first
child, Zenator, in 1978. Rawlings was then an Airforce Officer. Two other
daughters and a son followed later; Yaa Asantewaa, Amina and Kimathi.[6] She would pursue her education
into the next couple decades, acquiring a diploma in advanced personnel
management from Ghana's Management Development and Productivity Institute in
1979 and a certificate in development from the Ghana Institute of Management
and Public Administration in 1991[7]
Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings became First Lady first when her husband
became Head of State briefly
in 1979. He returned to power in 1981 and was in charge until 2001. She has
been the president of the 31st December Women's Movement[8][9] in 1982. She was elected First
Vice Chairperson of her party in 2009 during the second term of her National
Democratic Congress (NDC) party's tenure in office under
President John Atta Mills.
She unsuccessfully challenged Atta Mills for the party's flagbearership
position at the party's congress in 2011.[10]
Education[edit]
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana, degree; advanced courses in
London, England; Johns Hopkins
University, Institute for Policy Studies, Baltimore, MD, certificate for fellows program
in philanthropy and
non-profit organizations.[11][12][13]
Life's work[edit]
In a statement released by the Embassy
of Ghana, former First Lady Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings stated,
"My desire is to see the emancipation of women at every level of
development to enable them to contribute and benefit from the socio-economic
and political progress of the country.... Women's vital role of promoting peace
in the family, the country and the world at large must be acknowledged. And to
do this, they must be empowered politically to equip them adequately for the
challenges of critically identifying and assessing solutions for the betterment
of society."[9]
This was the goal of 31 December Women's Movement of which Nana
Konadu Agyeman Rawlings was president. She described it as a "broad based
development oriented Non-Governmental Organisation that aspires to achieve
these objectives through the effective mobilisation of women." In
addition, her movement—two million strong—has set up more than 870 pre-schools
in Ghana and has worked actively to stir up interest for the accomplishment of
child development and family planning.[9]
Ghana's former First Lady has said that she would continue to
work in the women's movement even if her husband were no longer president. Her
husband led a military coup that seized power in 1981,[14] although he was not
established as head of state until the following year. The country successfully
reverted to civilian rule in 1992 and held free elections. Calling the first
lady "an instrumental part of the revolution in Ghana's economy," the
Baltimore Afro-American reported that women were Ghana's largest labor force,
and they wanted to be a central part of the country's redevelopment.
"Before December 31, 1981, they had no power of influence in law or
politics--even the laws that pertained to them." It was a grassroots movement, with women selling
their land, clothes, and jewelry to get money.
Women's rights[edit]
In the early 1980s, a few women approached her wanting to form a
women's organization but after a few meetings, little happened. She said that
after asking the women what they wanted to do as an organization, "It was
clear that we had to start with things that would earn money to develop their
communities in the social sector. Most of the women wanted things like
water."[15] The movement taught Ghanaian
women how to generate income and save money for community projects. It
encouraged them to become part of the decision making process in their
villages, and explained policies of health and education. It offered an adult
literacy program to teach them to read and write—the majority of women could
not do either. Too early marriages among female children were discouraged and
programs were offered on nutrition and immunization. In 1991, through the efforts of
Nana Konadu, Ghana was the first nation to approve the United
Nations Convention on the Right of the Child.
Via the movement, Mrs. Rawlings also played a crucial role in
the adoption of an "Intestate Succession Law," which is applicable to
the survivors of anyone dying without a will. Traditionally, Ghanaian women had
little or no rights of inheritance upon the death of their husbands. The new
law provides a standard of inheritance.
Mrs. Rawlings movement has also taught village women to become
involved in the electoral process. "We literally just pounded it into them
until they realized, hey, we don't want any of these people who are living
outside our areas to come and stand in our areas to be elected," she said
in Africa Report. "A lot of women are now on committees in their villages
and districts, some are chairing the committees.... I can only say we've made a
lot of impact, and I can see from the self-esteem and near arrogance of the
women, that now we've actually been able to break through this thick
wall." In 1992, 19 women were elected in parliamentary elections.
Pointing to the area of finance as one of their problems, Mrs.
Rawlings told Africa Report: "Most of the Western embassies said we were
just a political group and they didn't take time to listen. It took a lot of
time just getting people to understand.... The more women who enter politics,
the better the world will be, because we don't think of wars and who is going
to manufacture arms and who is going to kill the next person. We want to form
linkages, network, and make the world a better place to live in."she is a
very vibrant and charismatic woman.
1995 US tour[edit]
During 1995 Ghana's first lady traveled with her husband to
cities, including New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., Houston,
Detroit, Lincoln, Pennsylvania, and Los Angeles, trying to encourage investment
and trade with Ghana. Her husband was the first Ghanaian president to go on a
nationwide tour in the United States.[16]
The first lady of Ghana was in the United States for five weeks
taking part in a fellows program in philanthropy and non-profit organizations
at the Institute for Policy Studies at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore,
where she received a certificate after finishing the course of study, which
included fundraising techniques, tax policy, and a course on community
organization. This was in 1994.[17] In 1995 both she and her
husband received honorary doctorate degrees at Lincoln
University in Lincoln, Pennsylvania.[18]
Presidential ambitions[edit]
In 2016 she became the first woman to run for President of
Ghana. She was billed as "The Hillary Clinton" of Africa.[14] She would have become the
first female president of Ghana if she had won with her newly formed party in
2016.[19] She won 0.16% of the votes
cast. She submitted her nomination forms to lead her party, the National
Democratic Party (NDP) in the 2020 general elections in October of the same
year.[20] She lost her husband in November
2020, when the election was less than a month away. She became less active in
her campaign but did not withdraw her candidacy.[21]
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