Ghana’s former first lady has died at the age of 76

Former First Lady of Ghana 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 staged two coups before being elected president twice in multiparty elections.

Social media has been flooded with tributes to the former first lady, politician and women’s rights advocate, who died on Thursday morning after a brief illness, Ghana’s presidential spokesman Felix Kwaki Ofosu said.

Her family met President John Mahama in the afternoon to officially announce her death. The president leads the National Democratic Congress (NDC) party, founded by Jerry Rawlings after taking power.

Agyeman-Rawlings also had political ambitions – but lost her bid to become the NDC’s presidential candidate in 2012.

As First Lady, she founded the December 31st 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 in 1981.

Born in November 1948, Agyeman-Rawlings came from a middle-class family and grew up in a Cape Coast town.

She met her future husband while a boarder at the prestigious Achimota School in the capital Accra.

Unlike her husband, she attended university, studying art and textiles.

Jerry Rawlings joined the Air Force and attained the rank of flight lieutenant in 1978 – a year after the couple married.

Not long after that, Rawlings, 32, took over and said his wife was an important adviser to him.

Young, glamorous and charismatic, they proved a dynamic duo in the West African nation.

The women’s group of former first ladies, initially known as an offshoot of the NDC, is credited with significantly helping women across the country – especially in poor areas.

Her advocacy also influenced national policy and in 1989 she was instrumental in drafting a law guaranteeing inheritance rights for women and children.

She is also credited with contributing to the inclusion of gender equality provisions in Ghana’s 1992 constitution, which saw the return of multiparty politics.

Ghana’s parliament has adjourned to commemorate the death of the former first lady as the country prepares to officially mourn one of its most respected political figures and a champion of women’s inclusion in politics.