Joyce Bamford-Addo

Rt. Hon. Joyce Adeline Bamford-Addo
Bamford-Addo in parliament
Speaker of Parliament (4th of Fourth Republic)
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 January 2009
Preceded by	Ebenezer Sekyi-Hughes
Supreme Court Judge
In office 1991 – October 2004
President	Jerry Rawlings (1991-2001) John Kufuor (2001-2009)
Appointed by	Jerry Rawlings
Personal details
Born	26 March 1937 (1937-03-26) (age 74) Accra, Ghana
Nationality	Ghanaian
Profession	Judge, Barrister
Religion	Catholic

Joyce Adeline Bamford-Addo (born 26 March 1937) is the Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana. The Speaker's position is the third most important in the Republic of Ghana. She is also a retired Supreme Court Judge. She is the first female Speaker in such a position in the West African sub-region.^[1][2]

Early life and education

Joyce Bamford-Addo attended the St. Mary’s Boarding School and the OLA Boarding School along with her sister Cynthia in Cape Coast for her basic education. She subsequently attended Holy Child School, also in Cape Coast for her secondary education. She proceeded to the United Kingdom for further studies. She joined the Inner Temple for her law studies and was called to the English Bar in 1961.^[3]

Judicial Service

Mrs. Bamford-Addo returned to Ghana after working in the UK for a year. She was called to the Ghana Bar in 1962. She worked as a State Attorney from 1963 and rose to become Chief State Attorney in 1973. She was appointed the Director of Public Prosecutions in 1976, a position she held for 10 years. She was also appointed by Jerry Rawlings as a Supreme Court Judge in 1991. She retired from the Supreme Court in October 2004 following allegations that she was bypassed for her junior, Justice George Kingsley Acquah in the appointment of Chief Justice.^[4]

Politics

In 1991, Mrs. Bamford-Addo became the 2nd Deputy Speaker of Ghana's Consultative Assembly, set up to draft what became Ghana's current constitution, the 1992 constitution. Following the 2008 presidential and parliamentary elections, she was elected unopposed as the Speaker of the Fifth Parliament of the Fourth Republic of Ghana.^[5]

References

1. ^ "Grandma Joyce is Historic Speaker". Ghanian Chronicle. 7 January 2009. http://allafrica.com/stories/200901070776.html. Retrieved 2009-01-08. 
2. ^ Cynthia Boakye (2009-01-08). "Ghana records another first. Justice Bamford Addo is first Female Speaker". Business News (Statesman Online). http://www.thestatesmanonline.com/pages/news_detail.php?section=2&newsid=7953. Retrieved 2009-01-30. 
3. ^ "The Speaker - Rt. Hon. Justice Joyce Bamford-Addo". Parliament of Ghana. http://www.parliament.gh/about/leadership/_speaker/speaker_rt_hon_justice_joyce_bamfordaddo.html. Retrieved 2009-01-29. ^{[dead link]}
4. ^ "CV of the new Speaker". General News of Thursday, 8 January 2009 (Ghana Home Page). http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=155917. Retrieved 2009-01-29. 
5. ^ "Fifth Parliament makes history". General News of Wednesday, 7 January 2009 (Ghana Home Page). http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=155856. Retrieved 2009-01-29. 

External links

• Profile on Parliament of Ghana website

Political offices
Preceded by Ebenezer Sekyi-Hughes	Speaker of Ghanaian Parliament 2009 - present	Incumbent
Order of precedence
Preceded by John Dramani Mahama Vice President of Ghana	Joyce Bamford-Addo Speaker of Parliament of Ghana	Succeeded by Georgina Theodora Wood Chief Justice of Ghana

Persondata
Name	Bamford-Addo, Joyce Adeline
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1937-03-26
Place of birth	Accra, Ghana
Date of death
Place of death