The Fourth Republic of Ghana is historical for many reasons. It has more women in higher public office than it has ever had, in its 51 years as an independent nation. This post highlights some of the women at the height of power.
The Speaker of Parliament
Joyce Adeline Bamford-Addo (born 26 March 1937) is the Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana. She is also a retired Supreme Court Judge. She is the first female Speaker in Ghana. According to Ghana’s constitution, she is the 3rd in the Order of precedence in Ghana and comes after the President and Vice President of the Republic.
According to parliament.gh, she was elevated to the high office of Supreme Court Judge in 1991 from where she continued to dispense justice for more than 13 years until she retired voluntarily from active service in 2004.
The Chief Justice of Ghana
Georgina Theodora Wood (born June 8, 1947) is a judge and also a former police prosecution officer. She is the Chief Justice of Ghana and the first woman to occupy that position.
She was nominated for the position of Chief Justice of Ghana in May 2007. On 1 June 2007,the Parliament of Ghana approved her nomination as the new Chief Justice of Ghana by consensus. As at June 2007, this made her the first woman in the history of Ghana to head the Judiciary and also made her the highest ranked female in Ghana’s political history. She assumed office on 15 June 2007.
Attorney-General and Minister of Justice
Betty Mould-Iddrisu until recently, was the Director of the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Division for the Commonwealth Secretariat – a position she held since November 2003. She has a vast experience with the Ghanaian Ministry of Justice specifically in administering various facets of intellectual property law, international law, human rights and gender in Ghana and the rest of Africa.
Among several previous appointments, she was Chief State Attorney and head of the International Law Division of the Ghanaian Ministry of Justice. She established the intellectual property course and taught on a part time basis, at the Faculty of Law, University of Ghana, between 1990 and 2000. She has delivered numerous papers globally and published several articles in the area of intellectual property law.
This formidable woman was seriously considered as a running mate to the then Presidential candidate, Professor Atta-Mills and according to Pan-African News, “nearly elected as the Speaker of Parliament”.
Inspector-General of Police
Mrs. Elizabeth Mills-Robertson, the acting Inspector-General of Police joined the Ghana Police Service in 1978. She is a Barrister at Law with extensive experience in various fields of policing and holds an Executive MBA from the University of Ghana, Legon.
She makes history as the first female Inspector-General of Police and before her latest appointment, she was a Deputy Inspector-General of Police.
Director of Immigration
Appointed in September 2002, Ms Elizabeth Adjei is the first female Director of Ghana Immigration Service.
She joined the Service as an administrative assistant in 1988 when the entire workforce was not more than 60. Today, Ms Elizabeth Adjei has over 1,000 personnel working under her.
Sources: Wikipedia, Commonwealth Secretariat, Parliament.gh, Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs, Ghana Police Service, Modernghana.com
[…] Ajao lists Ghana's most powerful women, “The Fourth Republic of Ghana is historical for many reasons. It has more women in higher […]
hi, ghana is the most beloved country and proud be a ghanaian
i hope more women who take a look this will like to be powerful like women mention.
Fellow readers, once upon a time we were in the dark but now where are we? i can’t boldly say we are completely in the light because Ghana is still developing and that there is more room for improvement.There are just a few mentioned outstanding women in our Ghanaian politics but don’t forget there are more others that are behind the scene. some women single-handedly takes care of their wards through their education for them to be ‘somebodies’ one day. in the quest to reach greater heights there was one thing i realized about women and that is WOMEN WE ARE OUR OWN ENEMIES. how can you boil water without making the molecules drift apart? food for thought.