International Women's Day: First females to occupy high offices in Ghana

March 8 is set aside to celebrate women all over the world and this year is no different.

Women over the years have proven that they are capable of doing what men can do.

Though the political sphere in Ghana is still dominated by men, women are stepping up to head some of the critical public offices in the country.

GhanaWeb takes time to celebrate some women who made history by becoming the first to occupy some high public offices in the country.

Georgina Theodora Wood – First female Chief Justice

Georgina Theodora Wood was sworn into office of 15th June 2007 as Ghana’s 12th Chief Justice.

Appointed into office by former president John Agyekum Kufuor, she wasn’t just the first female Chief Justice, she is the country’s longest serving Chief Justice having occupied the office from 2007 to 2017.

Mrs Wood rose through the ranks, serving as a District Magistrate of Circuit and High Courts in the Judicial Service.

IN 1991 she was appointed a presiding judge of the Court of Appeal, and then as a Supreme Court Judge on 12th November 2002.

Her appointment made her the most powerful woman in Ghana’s political history till the appointment of Justice Joyce Adeline Bamford-Addo as Speaker of the Parliament in January 2009.

Justice Joyce Adeline Bamford-Addo – First Female Speaker of Parliament



Born 26th March, 1937, Justice Joyce Adeline Bamford-Addo became the most powerful woman in Ghana when she was appointed to occupy the third-highest office in the country, Speaker of Parliament.

She was appointed by the late Prof John Evans Atta Mills on January 7, 2009, and was sworn in by Ghana’s first female Chief Justice Georgina Theodora Wood.

With the overwhelming desire to seek justice for the downtrodden, Justice Bamford-Addo pursued her Law education in London and was subsequently called into the Inner Temple in London in 1961.

From 1961-1963 Justice Bamford-Addo practised law in Ghana and was subsequently appointed as the assistant state attorney in December 1963.

Her resilience and hard work earned her the position as the director of public prosecution on 21st January 1986 and in 1991, she was elevated to the Supreme Court where she dispatched her duties firmly but fairly.

In October 2004, Justice Bamford-Addo effectively retired as a Supreme Court Judge after an impeccable service to her country.

She served as Speaker from 2009 to January 2013.

Betty Mould-Iddrisu – First female Attorney General



Betty Mould-Iddrisu was appointed Ghana’s first female Attorney General and Minister for Justice by the late president Prof John Evans Atta Mills in 2009.

Born on March 22, 1953, she worked at the Ministry of Justice from 1978 till 2003 in several capacities rising to the rank of Chief State Attorney. She also headed the administration of Intellectual Property Rights (Copyright) and the administration of authors’ rights at the African regional level between1999 and 2000.

Prior to her appointment as Attorney General, she was the Head of Legal and Constitutional Affairs of the Commonwealth Secretariat in London.

In January 2011, she was reassigned to the Ministry of Education and she resigned her position in January 2012.

Charlotte Osei – First female Chairperson of the Electoral Commission



At age 46, Charlotte Kesson-Smith Osei was appointed by former president John Dramani Mahama to take over from Dr Kwadjo Afari-Gyan after his retirement as Chairperson of the Electoral Commission.

Before her appointment in June 2015, she was the chairperson of the National Commission for Civic Education.

Mrs Osei had her secondary education at the Ghana National College in Cape Coast then proceeded to the University of Ghana where she obtained her LLB in 1992 and Ghana School of Law where she obtained and called to the bar in 1994. She also holds Master of Business Leadership (MBL) from the University of South Africa, Pretoria (2006), Master of Laws, (LLM), from Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

Charlotte Osei was relieved of her position in June 2018 after the Justice Sophia Akuffo Committee report recommended that, due to breach of procurement laws in the wake of the 2016 General Election.

In May 2019, the United Nations appointed her as an International Elections Commissioner to Afghanistan, as the South Asian country prepared to hold crucial Presidential polls in September 2019.

Akosua Frema Osei-Opare – First female Chief of Staff



Ghana’s current Chief of Staff is Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, the first female to occupy the office.

She was appointed by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in 2017.

She received her bachelor's degree in Home Science from the University of Ghana then proceeded to the University of Guelph for a Masters in Food Science.

Frema Opare lectured at the Department of Home Science of the University of Ghana from 1976-1982 and rose to become the Head of Department. She has also worked with the United Nations in the Women in Fisheries project in various capacities in Uganda, Ethiopia, Congo and Namibia.