Read more on the woman on Ghana’s 50 pesewas coin
It is very necessary for us to be conversant with our Ghanaian history. Ghana immortalize it’s heroes and heroines on the face of it’s currencies and statue.
For instance, the one, two, three, five, ten, fifty, hundred and two hundred cedis have the faces of Tetteh Quarshie and the big six. With this we are able to tell because we learnt them from historians and teachers in various schools.
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But the face on the fifty pesewas keeps people wondering who it may be since it is not taught like the ones of the big six. Historians and public records have identified the lady as Rebecca Naa Dedei Ayitey(Dedei Ashikishan).
Here is a little fact about the woman on Ghana’s 50 pesewas coin
She was born Rebecca Naa Dedei Ayitey but was popularly known as Dedei Ashikishan. Dedei was born on the 22nd of June in the year 1923 and was into politics and business. The name “Ashikishan” is a Ga word meaning “flour”. So the name Dedei Ashikishan was derived from the flour business she was doing.
Others also named her the queen mother of the business. History has it that she was a wealthy woman who had huge houses in Kokomlemle and remained a close friend to Dr Kwame Nkrumah. She then became the chief financier of Nkrumah’s party and campaigned and supported Nkrumah to win in Aseidi Keteke, the nerve centre of the Ga dangbe confederacy.
Dedei Ashikishan campaigned and supported the late Dr Kwame Nkrumah against her won kinsmen Odarkwei Obetsebi Lamptey. She also mobilized all the market women at Accra to vote massively for Nkrumah.
Her close relationship with Nkrumah made her an enemy of rival political party and colonial government. She was poisoned with food when she accompanied the late President to a gathering at Ho in the Volta Region. She died without giving birth to a child.
Before her death, she brought the idea of bringing to Accra doubled decker buses through the help of an American friend. This bus was named after her as Auntie Dedei Bus. She was also honoured when her face was placed on Ghana’s 50 pesewas.
