How Rawlings feigned joining a choir just to win Konadu’s heart

As Ghana pays farewell to its former First Lady Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, mourners got hear about one of the intimate stories of how the late mother-of-the-nation met her husband, former President Jerry John Rawlings.

According to excerpts read from her biography during her state funeral on November 28, 2025, Nana Konadu was raised in a Protestant household and attended Protestant worship services.

She even joined the choir at her church at the age of 15.

But during one fateful choir practice session in 1963, a new addition to the group was announced: a young man by the name of Jerry John Rawlings.

“She recounts that at the age of 15, in Protestant choir practice, Jerry John suddenly showed up to join the Protestant choir.

“What made this more shocking was that Rawlings himself was raised a Catholic. So, while many thought that his switch was out of religious reasons, the real motive was entirely different,” the biography read.

Rawlings had neither interest in the chorus nor in worship that day. He had joined to win his future wife’s attention.

Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings makes final journey home

“It was much later that she would find out that Jerry John had no interest in being part of the choir. He had joined the choir to be close to her,” the biography added.

That small but bold gesture, which later evolved into a marriage in 1977, marked the beginning of a relationship that endured decades, surviving politics, power, public life and Ghanaian history.

Nana Konadu’s life was celebrated not only for her activism, advocacy for women empowerment, and founding of the 31 December Women’s Movement, but also for her presence and cultural influence.

Jerry John Rawlings died on November 12, 2020, at age 73 and Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings passed away on October 23, 2025, at the Ridge Hospital in Accra at the age of 76 after what was reported as a short illness.

ID/AE

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