Nana Konadu Agyeman married Jerry Rawlings in 1977, when he was a young air force officer with no national profile. Two years later he led a coup, and she went on to become Ghana’s longest-serving first lady.
Achimota sweethearts
They met as teenagers at Achimota School. She later studied art in Kumasi, and he joined the Ghana Air Force. They married in 1977.
June 4 and 31 December
Rawlings led the June 1979 uprising of junior officers and handed power to an elected government that year. From 31 December 1981 he ruled Ghana until 2001, first as military leader and then as an elected president. Nana Konadu founded the 31st December Women’s Movement in 1982.
Her own campaign
Nana Konadu later stood for president herself, in 2016, at the head of the National Democratic Party. They had four children, including MP Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings. Jerry Rawlings died in November 2020, aged 73.
