1923 – 1961

Rebecca Naa Dedei Aryeetey was known as Dedei Ashikishan.  She was a political activist, feminist and an entrepreneur, well known for her thriving flour business in Ghana, which resulted in her name ‘Ashikishan’.  Dedei Aryeetey was one of the chief financial supporters of Kwame Nkrumah’s party and campaigned strongly for him against her own kinsman Odartey Lamptey.  She invested a lot of her personal funds into the CPP party and brought the idea of double Decker buses with the help of a friend from the United States.  This is why the buses were called “Aunty Dedei”.  She mobilized the market women in Accra garnering their votes for Nkrumah and travelled with him to Ho.  In Ho she was poisoned and died.  She was honored by being placed on the 50-pesewa coin.

Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca_Naa_Dedei_Aryeetey