Ghanaians of all walks of life are paying tribute to one of the nation’s finest women leaders, Madam Hawa Yakubu, who died in London on Tuesday after a short illness.

From all available media networks; radio, Tv, newspapers and on the web; glowing tributes have been pouring in from politicians, rights campaigners and ordinary folks for the late politician/career woman who once stood out as the lone voice of dissent in Parliament in 1993 when she was an independent candidate and at a time then main opposition NPP, had boycotted elections.

Chief of Staff Kwadwo Mpiani, MPs John Mahama, Theresa Tagoe, Mahama Ayariga who unseated Hawa as MP for Bawku Central in 2004, and several others saw in Hawa a virtuous woman whose death would remain Ghana’s loss forever.

Several callers to Joy FM, which devoted a substantial space on its Super Morning Show to the memory of the late ‘Iron Lady’, praised her selfless devotion to the advancement of humanity and her uncommon reconciliatory spirit.

In Parliament, even though no official statements were made about the death of Hawa Yakubu yet, Members were visibly in mourning.

All the MPs turned up in Parliament clad in red ribbons and arm bands and other mourning clothes.

Born in the mining town of Tarkwa in 1948, Hawa Yakubu's political life started from the grass roots, when she stood for the district assembly elections unopposed in Bawku, and became a member of her constituent assembly in the mid seventies.

She joined William Ofori Atta, Albert Adu Boahen and R.R. Amponsah's United National Convention and became the party's national women's organizer.

With the 31st December coup truncating the Third Republic and banning active politics, Hawa Yakubu went into exile to Britain.

In 1991, she returned from political asylum to contest the Bawku seat as an independent candidate and won. As a strong member of the opposition, she was very vocal and very instrumental in the passage of key bills, including the Serious Fraud and the Criminal Code Amendment Bills.

In 1996 and 2000, she was re-elected as MP and was appointed Tourism Minister when the NPP assumed power in 2001.

Her steely will and strong determination to get her opinion heard endeared her to many and earned her the name Iron Lady. But it also earned her some enemies. Many from the NPP saw her as an outsider and resented her influence on the party.

In May 2002, the Iron Lady resigned as Tourism Minister to take up a position as a member of the ECOWAS Parliament. However, she had to relinquish that post when she lost her seat in the 2004 parliamentary elections.

She contested the results and maintained that there was an assassination attempt on her life.

Hawa Yakubu retreated from the spotlight of politics to concentrate on her NGO work. However, she came back into the spotlight in 2005 when she contested and won the position of First Vice Chairperson of the NPP.

Beyond the borders of Ghana Madam Yakubu was recognized by political leaders in the West African sub-region as a formidable woman. But the Iron Lady would be most remembered for her flamboyance, charisma and political activism, which made her a national figure.

She was survived by a son, Derek and two daughters, Amanda and Dieudonne.