The late former First Lady of Ghana, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, has been remembered for a life of grassroots mobilisation, community empowerment and advocacy for women’s participation in national development.
Her daughter, Ms Yaa Asantewaa Agyeman-Rawlings, Executive Director of the J.J. Rawlings Foundation, said her mother’s contribution to Ghana extended beyond the advancement of women to a broader commitment to empowering communities and enabling citizens to participate actively in decisions affecting their lives.
Ms Agyeman-Rawlings made the remarks at the launch of the Sheroes of Africa Coffee Table Book in Accra. The book, authored by Princess Flossy Tachie-Menson, celebrates 100 African women whose leadership, courage and contributions have helped shape the continent.
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‘She was boots on the ground’
Reflecting on her mother’s approach to public service, Ms Agyeman-Rawlings described Nana Konadu as a leader who believed strongly in direct engagement with communities.
“This was my mother: boots on the ground. She did not believe in championing an idea from a distance.”
According to her, Nana Konadu travelled to communities, listened to people, mobilised them and encouraged them to take ownership of their development.
She recalled her mother’s assertion that there was hardly a community in Ghana that she had not visited, highlighting the grassroots nature of her work.
Ms Agyeman-Rawlings said her mother understood that sustainable national transformation required more than policies developed at the national level. It also required equipping people, strengthening communities and creating opportunities for citizens to influence decisions that affected their lives.
Promoting women’s participation in local governance
She also recalled Nana Konadu’s involvement in Ghana’s decentralisation process in the mid-1980s.
Through the 31st December Women’s Movement, Nana Konadu went into communities to educate citizens about the importance of decentralisation and local governance.
Ms Agyeman-Rawlings said her mother also recognised district-level elections as an opportunity to increase women’s participation in public life and encouraged several women, including organisers of the movement, to contest elections and enter public service.
The account places Nana Konadu’s advocacy within a broader effort to move women from being participants at the community level to becoming actors in governance and decision-making.
A legacy beyond the family
For Ms Agyeman-Rawlings, the legacy of her mother cannot be confined to the Rawlings family.
She said it belongs to the women whose confidence Nana Konadu helped build, the communities whose aspirations she helped expand, and young people who found in her an example of courage and resilience.
She stressed that the impact of Nana Konadu’s work should also be measured by the people and communities she inspired during her lifetime.
Honoured among Africa’s ‘Sheroes’
Ms Agyeman-Rawlings expressed appreciation to the organisers of the Sheroes of Africa project for documenting the stories of African women whose contributions could otherwise be lost to history.
She said the inclusion of Nana Konadu in the book was particularly meaningful to the family and described the commemorative presentation as an honour that would help preserve her story for future generations.
She said the legacy Nana Konadu created was not meant to end with her, but to inspire others to continue the work of community development, women’s empowerment and public service.
The late former First Lady of Ghana, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, has been remembered for a life of grassroots mobilisation, community empowerment and advocacy for women’s participation in national development.
The launch was chaired by former President of Malawi, Dr Joyce Banda, who is also Chairperson of the Sheroes Foundation.
Remembering Nana Konadu
Ms Agyeman-Rawlings noted that October 23, 2026, will mark one year since the death of Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings.
Reflecting on her mother’s passing, she said a purposeful life continues through the people it inspires and the communities it strengthens.
For her, Nana Konadu’s enduring contribution is therefore not only a record of past achievements, but a continuing call for people—particularly women and young people—to participate actively in shaping their communities and their country.
The tribute at the Sheroes of Africa launch consequently presented Nana Konadu’s legacy through the lens of grassroots leadership, women’s participation, community mobilisation and national development—a legacy Ms Agyeman-Rawlings said should be carried forward by future generations.
