Veteran broadcaster Paul Adom-Otchere has publicly condemned National Democratic Congress (NDC) National Chairman Johnson Asiedu Nketiah for invoking the memory of the late former First Lady Nana Konadu Agyemang-Rawlings during a campaign rally, describing the remarks as derogatory and beneath the dignity owed to a founding figure of the party.
Speaking on his Good Evening Ghana programme on Metro TV, Adom-Otchere said the comments were unnecessary and showed a troubling disregard for the legacy of a woman who dedicated decades of her life to building the very institution Asiedu Nketiah now leads.
“What worried me was the reference to Mrs Rawlings. It was so unnecessary and even derogatory. This is a woman who spent the best part of her adult life establishing a party that you, Johnson, benefit from. And now that she has passed, this is what you say about her,” Adom-Otchere said.
The controversy stems from a speech Asiedu Nketiah delivered at a Nima campaign rally ahead of the Ayawaso East by-election, where he sought to dismiss independent candidate Mohammed Umar Sanda’s decision to contest against the party’s endorsed candidate. Drawing a parallel, Asiedu Nketiah referenced Nana Konadu’s own departure from the NDC, saying: “Our late father Rawlings, who brought the party, his wife decided to form her own party. She herself left, so the one who brought the party even left and the party didn’t collapse.”
Nana Konadu Agyemang-Rawlings, Ghana’s longest-serving First Lady and founder of the 31st December Women’s Movement, passed away on October 23, 2025. She had founded the National Democratic Party after breaking away from the NDC, and in 2016 made history as the first woman to contest the presidency on the ticket of a registered political party in Ghana.
Adom-Otchere said his admiration for Nana Konadu transcends party lines and urged Ghanaians not to reduce her legacy to a rhetorical tool. “I am not a member of the NDC, but I admire Mrs Rawlings for the works she did. Everyone misses Mrs Rawlings for the works she did,” he said.
He argued that her split from the NDC was not an act of political betrayal but one rooted in principle. According to him, concerns over vote buying, manipulation, and intimidation during internal party contests were central to her disillusionment with the direction the party had taken. “These are the matters that drove Mrs Rawlings away from the NDC. These are principles that she firmly stood by, because she was coming from the unadulterated NDC of proper accountability,” Adom-Otchere said.
The remarks have resonated beyond the by-election context, reigniting a broader conversation about political decorum and the boundaries of campaign messaging when deceased public figures are invoked. For many Ghanaians, Nana Konadu represented over four decades of public service, from her role in shaping key legislation on women’s inheritance rights to her advocacy at the international level, including her intervention at the 1995 Beijing Conference that helped place the girl-child on the global agenda.
Asiedu Nketiah has not publicly responded to Adom-Otchere’s criticism. The Ayawaso East by-election takes place on Tuesday, March 3, 2026.
