President John Mahama has assured the family of former first lady Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings that she will be given a full state burial and accorded the appropriate send off.
Speaking after visiting the house of the former First Lady, John Mahama said the Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings contribution to woman empowerment remains unmatched.
“We’re waiting for the family to meet and tell us what their desires are. But I just want to announce as President that we shall give her a state funeral. We will work closely with the family.
The family can do the traditional funeral after the state funeral. And so once we know what the dates are, we will do the program and the state will give her the full honours that she deserves as our former First Lady and Mother of the Nation,” he announced.
The President made the announcement when he called on the family at their residence at Ridge on October 28.
“I want to express my condolences on behalf of Lordina and I, on the passing of our mother. It actually came as a shock. Zanetor was the first to call me and Nana was with them, and they broke the news to me. I asked them to come to the office, and they came and explained everything that happened. It was sudden. The last time I saw her was at the Asantehemaa’s funeral and she was her lively self.
I mean there was nothing that could warn us that in a few weeks to come she herself will become God’s own. But like Nana said, all of us will be called one day by God. We don’t know when. And so we extend our condolences,” he said.
President Mahama praised the late Mrs Rawlings for her contribution to national development.
“Nana Konadu set a record in this country. The longest serving First Lady, 19 solid years. With the constitution we have, nobody can ever break that record. The maximum anybody will do is eight years. And during the 19 years, she took women’s empowerment as her focus.
And we know the work the 31st Women’s Movement did all over the country. Even up to today, when you go around the country on the campaign trail, you see evidence of her work. Either oil palm extraction projects, Gari production projects, and they are still operational.
Women are using those income generation facilities to improve themselves and their children. And so there’s a lot that can be said and I’m sure that when the tributes come to be written, we will have a wholesome story about her role as First Lady in Ghana. And so on behalf of the people of Ghana, the government, I want to extend our sympathy and condolence to the family,” he stated.
Nana Konadu died at the Ridge Hospital in Accra aged 76 after a short illness.
He is survived by four children- Zanetor, Amina, Yaa Asantewaa and Kimathi Rawlings.
