The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has described the late First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, as boldness personified.
“She was the very heartbeat of a movement that reshaped Ghana’s political, social, and democratic landscape,” it said.
Tribute
In a tribute read on behalf of the party, the General Secretary of the NDC, Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, said she was a foundational pillar of both the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) and the NDC.
He said Mrs Agyeman-Rawlings did not operate from the background but was at the centre of organising women, building structures, “shaping strategy, strengthening the grassroots, and helping give birth to a party that was not just political, but deeply connected to the people.”
He pointed out that the history of the NDC could not be told without her name spoken boldly and with honour.
“She was not an observer of the struggle. She was an architect of its success. She was not a mere participant.
She was a pillar, strong, unyielding, indispensable,” he stated.
Mr Kwetey said her election in 2009 as First Vice Chairperson of the NDC was a recognition of her stature as a founding mother of the party, “one whose influence could never be wished away, revised, or forgotten.”
Courage
The General Secretary said she again defied all limits and became the first woman to contest the presidency of the Republic of Ghana, “a testament to her courage and her lifelong message that leadership is not a man’s birthright.”
He said the NDC was celebrating a woman who lived with intention, “who spoke her truth without fear, and who served this country with unshakeable conviction. “
Mr Kwetey said during the turbulence of the 1980s, Mrs Agyeman-Rawlings did not stand at the margins but stepped into the arena, not merely to support a revolution, but to define one.
He said her founding of the 31st December Women’s Movement was one of the boldest acts of leadership in the country’s history.
“What began as an idea became a nationwide transformation engine that empowered millions of women, nurtured community leadership, and restored confidence in those who had once been invisible,” he stated.
He said under her commanding and charismatic leadership, more than 870 early childhood centres were established across the country.
“Today, thousands of adults in their 30s and 40s carry the gift of early education because Nana Konadu and her Movement walked into their communities and planted opportunities where none existed. Her work was practical, personal, and profoundly transformational,” he stressed.
Mr Kwetey said Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings’ advocacy went far beyond education.
He said through literacy drives, micro-enterprise programmes, and legal reform, she helped thousands of women become informed earners and confident citizens.
“Her boldness influenced the passage of the Intestate Succession Law (PNDCL 111), a watershed legislation many rightly call the ‘Nana Konadu Law’,” he stated.
Mr Kwetey said Nana Konadu stood between widows and injustice, fighting to ensure that no woman would be left homeless or powerless in her darkest hour.
He said her fearlessness also took Ghana to the world stage, especially at the 1995 Beijing Conference, where she spoke for the African girl child with a clarity and authority that commanded global respect.
