Former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has joined His Majesty the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Asanteman Council, and Asanteman in mourning the passing of the Queen Mother, Asantehemaa Nana Ama Konadu Yiadom III.
Dr. Bawumia said that Nana, throughout her reign, remained an enduring symbol of unity, grace, and candour.
“Her sense of compassion and open arms received many, of whom I am proud to have been part. Her words of encouragement and counsel, just as her prayers, have been a source of strength for me. We have lost a mother, not just the queen mother. Ohemaa Konadu Yiadom, Due. Asanteman Damirifa Due,” he wrote on Facebook.
The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has confirmed the death of Asantehemaa Nana Ama Konadu Yiadom III. He announced her demise on Monday, August 11, during an Asanteman Council meeting at the Manhyia Palace.
The Queen Mother, who died on Thursday, August 7, spent eight years on the stool. Asantehemaa was named Nana Ama Konadu at birth and was also known by all as Nana Panin or Naa Panin. She later became Nana Konadu Yiadom III after her enstoolment as the 14th Asantehemaa on February 6, 2016.
She was born in 1927 at the Benyaade Shrine in Merdan, a small town located at Kwadaso, Kumasi, during the days of the restoration of the Asante Confederacy.
She was the daughter of Nana Afia Kobi Serwaa Ampem II, Asantehemaa from 1977 to 2016. Her father was Opanin Kofi Fofie, popularly known as Koofie or Keewuo, a carpenter from Besease near Atimatim in Kumasi.
At a very tender age, just over a year old and still being breastfed, Nana Konadu Yiadom III was separated from her biological mother and given to her aunt (her mother’s sister), Nana Afia Konadu, at Ashanti New Town (Ash-Town), a suburb of Kumasi.
Nanahemaa never had any formal education but underwent a rigorous and high-quality informal education, learning many things not taught in classrooms.
She was initiated and underwent puberty rites together with her niece, Nana Abena Ansa, in their early teens. She later married Opanin Kwame Boateng, a blacksmith from Aduman in Kumasi.
She was religious, kind-hearted, calm, fair, firm, hardworking, humble, unassuming, and accommodating. In the mid-1990s, Kwaku Firi Bosomfo, the priest of Kwaku Firi, prophesied through Baffour Akoto, a Senior Linguist of the Asantehene, that Nanahemaa would one day be Queen of Asante — a prophecy that came to pass.
Nanahemaa achieved much and received recognition for her contributions. Through her constant generosity in doing God’s work, the Saviour Church named a school after her — the Nana Konadu Saviour School. She exhibited a high level of equity, justice, and fairness, ensuring all cases brought before her were settled amicably to the satisfaction of both parties.
In celebrating her 5th anniversary as Asantehemaa, she made a significant donation to mothers at the Mother-Baby Unit (MBU), Pediatric Emergency Care Unit (PICU), and Pediatric Emergency Unit (PEU). She paid all medical bills and expenses for new mothers at the MBU at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and Manhyia Government District Hospital.
Nanahemaa also initiated a vigorous campaign and instituted an annual event to encourage mothers to breastfeed their young ones. This was the main reason behind her generous donation to the Mother-Baby Unit at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and Manhyia Government District Hospital.
