Ernest Yao Gaewu (born on 18 April 1969) is a

Ghanaian The Ghanaian people are a nation originating in the Gold Coast (region), Ghanaian Gold Coast. Ghanaians predominantly inhabit the Republic of Ghana and are the predominant cultural group and residents of Ghana, numbering 34 million people as of ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

and

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

who is in active service at the

Supreme Court of Ghana The Supreme Court of Ghana is the highest judicial body in Ghana. Constitution of Ghana, Ghana's 1992 constitution guarantees the independence and separation of the Judiciary of Ghana, Judiciary from the Legislative and the Executive (governm ...

Early life and education

Gaewu was born in Ho, but hails from Abotia in the

Ho West District Ho West District is one of the eighteen districts in Volta Region, Ghana. Originally it was formerly part of the then-larger Ho District on 10 March 1989, until the western part was split off to create Ho West District on 28 June 2012; thus the ...

of the

Volta Region Volta Region (or Volta) is one of Ghana's sixteen administrative regions, with Ho designated as its capital. It is located west of Republic of Togo and to the east of Lake Volta. Divided into 25 administrative districts, the region is multi- ...

. He attended Awudome Senior High School for his Ordinary Level education and

Mawuli School Mawuli School is a co-educational, boarding school, boarding senior high school located in Ho, Ghana, Ho in the Ho Municipal, Ho Municipal district in the Volta Region of Ghana. History The school was founded in 1950 by the Evangelical Presbyteria ...

for his Advanced Level education. He then proceeded to the

University of Ghana The University of Ghana is a public university located in Accra, Ghana. It is the oldest public university in the country. The university was founded in 1948 as the University College of the Gold Coast in the British colony of the Gold Coast ...

in 1995 to study law. After completing his law degree, he attended the

Ghana School of Law The Ghana School of Law (GSL) is an educational institution in Ghana for training lawyers. The school is the only institution responsible for training for law graduates in the Professional Law Course (PLC) programme and the Post-Call Law Course. ...

and was called to the bar in 2000.

Career

After completing his legal education, Gaewu worked at Mawulorm Chambers in the

under the leadership of Justice

Jones Dotse Jones Victor Mawulorm Dotse is a Ghanaian judge. He was a supreme court, Supreme Court judge of Ghana and has also served on the Supreme Court of the Gambia. He was appointed a judge of both courts in 2008. Early life and education Dotse was bo ...

. In 2009, he became the head of the chamber. From 2012 to 2015, he served as the assistant secretary and then secretary of the Volta Bar, as well as a member of the National Council of the

Ghana Bar Association The Ghana Bar Association (GBA) is a professional association of lawyers in Ghana, including what used to be called solicitors and barristers but they are now called legal practitioners, as well as magistrates.By convention, all lawyers admitted ...

. He was also the Bar's representative at the Volta Prison Council and served for two terms. Gaewu has served on various boards and committees, including the Disciplinary Committee of Volta GFA, the Ho Teaching Hospital Board, the Ho Polytechnic Entity Committee, and the Entity Committee of the

University of Health and Allied Sciences The University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) is a public university located at Ho in the Volta Region of Ghana. UHAS is one of the youngest public universities in Ghana. Its operation started in September 2012, when the first batch of 15 ...

. He was also a government appointee of the

Ho Municipal Ho Municipal Assembly is one of the 25 administrative Districts in the Volta Region, Ghana. It is made up of total land size of 2,361 km2 and a total estimated population of 213,960 in 2017, 105,195 being males and 108,765 are females. Originally ...

Assembly from 2002 to 2004. After working in private practice for about two decades, Gaewu was appointed justice of the High Court. Prior to his legal practice, Gaewu worked as the managing director of Kwagame Ghana Ltd, a family business, from 1987 to 1995.

Political career

Whilst in private practice, he was active in partisan politics from 2009 to 2016, serving as a constituency chairman and parliamentary candidate for the

New Patriotic Party The New Patriotic Party (NPP; ) is a Centre-right politics, centre-right and Liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative political party in Ghana. Since the democratisation of Ghana in 1992, it has been one of the two dominant parties in Ghanaian ...

in the Ho West and Ho Central Constituencies. He resigned on 16 September 2020 which was the same day he was appointed as a High Court Judge.

Supreme Court Appointment

Nomination

Gaewu was nominated (together with George Kingsley Koomson, Barbara Frances Ackah-Yensu and

Samuel Kwame Adibu Asiedu Samuel Kwame Adibu Asiedu is a Ghanaian judge. He is an active Justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana. He has been on the bench in Ghana since 1996 and became a Supreme Court judge in 2022. Early life and education Asiedu was born on 9 April ...

) for the Supreme Court bench by President

Nana Akufo-Addo William Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo ( ; born 29 March 1944) is a Ghanaian politician who served as the 13th president of Ghana from January 2017 to January 2025. He previously served as Attorney General of Ghana, Attorney General from 2001 to 20 ...

on 4 July 2022 based on the advice of the Judicial Council and in consultation with the

Council of State A council of state is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head ...

. The president said in a statement to parliament that; "he is fully satisfied that each person is fully qualified, and eminently fit to discharge the functions of justice of the apex court". On 25 July 2022, the speaker of parliament announced the nominations in parliament and referred them to the appointments committee for consideration.

Vetting

Gaewu was vetted on 19 October 2022 by the vetting committee. However, the caucus argued that Justice Gaewu's previous involvement in partisan politics made him unfit to serve on the Supreme Court's bench. The minority expressed their concerns about the appointment and suggested that other competent and qualified justices could have been elevated instead. Following the vetting, his appointment was made on 24 March 2023 after a vote in confidence by the Parliament and the adoption of the consensual report. Gaewu received 138 "Yes" votes and 134 "No" votes during the approval process.

Sworn-in

Gaewu was sworn into office as justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana together with George Kingsley Koomson on 5 April 2023 by President Nana Akufo Addo. He became the first judge to be appointed to the Supreme Court directly from the High Court since J. N. K. Taylor in 1980.

Personal life

Gaewu is a Christian and is married with three children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaewu, Ernest Justices of the Supreme Court of Ghana Mawuli School alumni 21st-century Ghanaian judges Living people University of Ghana alumni 20th-century Ghanaian lawyers 1969 births Constitutional court judges Ghanaian Christians Ghana School of Law alumni People from Volta Region New Patriotic Party politicians