Gloria Akuffo
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Gloria Akuffo (born 31 December 1954) is a
Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...
ian lawyer and politician who served as the Attorney General of Ghana and Minister for Justice from 2017 until 2021. She also served as Deputy Attorney General and Aviation Minister in the John Kuffuor administration.


Early life and education

She was born on 31 December 1954 in Accra and comes from
Akropong-Akuapem Akropong is a town in South Ghana and is the capital of the Akuapim North District, a district in the Eastern Region of South Ghana. This town is known for producing snails and palm oil.
in the Eastern Region and Shai Osudoku in the
Greater Accra Region The Greater Accra Region has the smallest area of Ghana's Regions of Ghana, 16 administrative regions, occupying a total land surface of 3,245 square kilometres. This is 1.4 per cent of the total land area of Ghana. It is the List of Ghanaian re ...
. Gloria Akuffo graduated in 1979 from 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 ...
with a B.A. (Hons) in Law and Political Science. She became a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Judicature of
Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...
, enrolling at the Ghana Bar Association in 1982.


Career

She was a founding partner in a private legal firm, Owusu-Yeboa, Akuffo & Associates, in
Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...
. She is Head of Litigation at Blay and Associates. She was appointed Attorney General and Minister of Justice by President Nana Akufo Addo upon his assumption of power in 2017. As Attorney General, Akufo represented Ghana in a maritime boundary dispute with Ivory Coast at International Tribunal for Law of the Sea(ITLOS). The case at the tribunal had travel for years and successive governments. Akufo and predecessor, Mariata Brew Appiah Oppong successfully defended Ghana's interest and in September 2017, the ITLOS ruled in favour of the Ghana, stating that Ghana had not violated the maritime boundaries in her oil exploration efforts. According the court ruling, a ny new boundary was to pass the West of Tweneboa, Enyenra, Ntomme oil and gas fields. The ruling saved Ghana some $49 billion. In March 2023, Nana Akufo-Addo bestowed national honours on the team of lawyers including Gloria Akufo who secured a favourable decision for Ghana in the maritime border dispute with the Ivory Coast. Akufo's appointment as Attorney General and Minister of Justice was not renewed by Akufo-Addo after he secured a second-term mandate as president in 2020. She was replaced by her deputy, Godfred Yeboah Dame, in 2021.


Politics

She is a member of 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 ...
. From 2001 to 2005, Akuffo was Deputy Minister of Justice and Deputy Attorney General, the first woman to hold these positions. From 2005 to 2006, Akuffo was Deputy Minister for the Greater Accra Region. Akuffo served as the first Minister of Aviation from 2006 till July 2008. She was appointed Ambassador to
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
in July 2008. She was the lead counsel in the dispute involving the 2013 election petition case before the Supreme Court in Ghana.


2012 Election Petition

Gloria was a key member of the legal team of New Patriotic Party during the 2012 election petition with Philip Addison as the lead counsel.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akuffo, Gloria 1954 births Living people University of Ghana alumni Alumni of Aburi Girls' Senior High School 21st-century Ghanaian politicians 21st-century Ghanaian women politicians Cabinet ministers of Ghana Lawyers from Accra Politicians from Accra Politicians from Greater Accra Region Women government ministers of Ghana Attorneys general of Ghana New Patriotic Party politicians Female justice ministers 20th-century Ghanaian lawyers 20th-century Ghanaian women lawyers