I was green when I met you – Nana Konadu’s tribute to Rawlings

The wife of Jerry John Rawlings, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings has said she had to learn a lot when she met the former President.

In a tribute read on her behalf by her daughter, Princess Amina Rawlings, she admitted that she and her husband “started on a journey that was free and easy in spirit.”

She disclosed that when she met Mr Rawlings, she was green and there was a lot she had to learn about real life, considering the fact that she had overprotective parents.

“I was innocent and you were streetwise. There was so much I did not know and understand about the real-life outside the wings and home of Mr and Mrs J.O.T. Agyeman since I had lived a very protected life under their roof.”

“I had to learn to understand how to be streetwise,” she added.

She had to adjust herself to his kind of lifestyle which conflicted with how she was raised.

“…move along with the flow of your friends and acquaintances, but it still did not sit well with me. It went against all the upbringing I had intensely received under the roof of my parents.”

Unable to fully adapt to the “streetwise” lifestyle, Mrs Agyeman-Rawlings decided to remain true to the values her parents inculcated in her.

“After several trials, I decided a leopard never changes its spots. I was who I was based on family values. I decided I could not change for the sake of love. You finally understood me. To take me as I am. I was who I was and there was nothing I could do about it.”

“You sometimes called me snooty. I refused to accept that. I said it was based on my values,” she added.

The biography of the late Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings which was read by one Eric Gbeho during the final funeral ceremony at the Black Stars Square in Accra, revealed that the late former President worked to bring governance close to the people.

The biography further said Mr Rawlings encouraged citizens to participate in the local governance.

“Jerry Rawlings brought governance to the people,” Gbeho said, among other things.

He added, “He encouraged citizens to participate in local governance.”