Joyce Adeline Bamford-Addo, (born 26 March 1937) 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 barrister 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 served as the first female Speaker of the

Parliament of Ghana The Parliament of Ghana is the unicameral legislature of Ghana. It consists of 276 members, who are elected for four-year terms in single-seat Electoral district, constituencies using a first-past-the-post voting system. History Legislature, L ...

from 2009 to 2013. She was the first woman to be elected to that position in the

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

n sub-region. Bamford-Addo also was the first female Justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana. She served in that role from 1991 until 2004, when she retired.

Early life and education

Born in 1937 in Accra to an English father and 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 ...

mother from Aburi, Joyce Bamford-Addo attended the Government Girls' School, Accra and St. Mary's Boarding School and Our Lady of Apostles (OLA) Boarding School, along with her sister Cynthia, in

Cape Coast Cape Coast is a city and the capital of the Cape Coast Metropolitan Assembly, Cape Coast Metropolitan District and the Central Region (Ghana), Central Region of Ghana, Ghana. It is located about from Sekondi-Takoradi and approximately from Ac ...

for her basic education. She subsequently attended Holy Child School, also in

, for her secondary education. She proceeded to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

for legal training. She joined the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

to train under the apprenticeship system known as

Inns of court The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales. There are four Inns of Court: Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple, and Middle Temple. All barristers must belong to one of them. They have s ...

and was called to the English Bar in 1961.

Judicial service

Bamford-Addo returned to

after working in the

for a year. She was called to the

Bar in 1962. She started working as an Assistant State Attorney in 1963 and promoted to State Attorney, then subsequently promoted to become a Senior State Attorney before becoming a Principal State Attorney. She became Chief State Attorney in 1973. She was appointed Director of Public Prosecutions in 1976, a position she held for 10 years.

Justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana

She was appointed by

Jerry Rawlings Jerry John Rawlings (born Jerry Rawlings John; 22 June 194712 November 2020) was a Ghanaian military officer, aviator, and politician who led the country briefly in 1979 and then from 1981 to 2001. He led a military junta until 1993 and then se ...

as a Supreme Court Judge in 1991, becoming the first female Justice of 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 ...

. After working in the public service for several years, she retired voluntarily from the Supreme Court in October 2004. It was allegedly reported that she retired over being bypassed by her junior, Justice George Kingsley Acquah, in the appointment of Chief Justice.

Politics

In 1991, during the late

Provisional National Defence Council The Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) was the name of the Ghanaian government after the People's National Party's elected government was overthrown by Jerry Rawlings, the former head of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council, in a coup ...

(PNDC) era, Bamford-Addo became the Second Deputy Speaker of Ghana's Consultative Assembly, set up to draft what became the 1992 constitution.

Speaker of Parliament

Following the 2008 presidential and

parliamentary elections A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...

, she was elected unopposed as the Speaker of the Fourth Parliament of the Fourth Republic of Ghana taking over from Ebenezer Sekyi-Hughes, serving as the first female to take up that position, and second female to head an arm of government after Georgina Theodora Wood was appointed Chief Justice of the

. The election also made her the highest ranked female in Ghana's political history surpassing Georgina Theodora Woods. She became known across in Africa and across the globe joining other female speakers like

Betty Boothroyd Betty Boothroyd, Baroness Boothroyd (8 October 1929 – 26 February 2023), was a British politician who served as a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), member of Parliament (MP) for West Bromwich (UK Parliament constituency), West Bromwich an ...

in the

and

Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi ( ; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who was the List of Speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 52nd speaker of the United States House of Representatives, serving from 2007 to 2011 an ...

of the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

as first female speakers of their respective countries.

Professional association

Bamford-Addo is a member of the Ghana Bar Association, Catholic Lawyers Guild,

International Federation of Women Lawyers The International Federation of Women Lawyers (IFWL), in Spanish (FIDA), is an international non-governmental organization (NGO) that enhances the status of women and children by providing legal aid, legal literacy and education programs, and th ...

(FIDA) and the

Commonwealth Lawyers Association The Commonwealth Lawyers Association (CLA) is an organisation of lawyers, law societies and bar associations across the Commonwealth of Nations. The association hosts a conference in a member nation of the commonwealth biennially. History ...

. Whilst working in the public service as a Supreme Court Judge, she also served as a member of the Legal Aid Board and the Judicial Council ( General Legal Council). She served as the representative from

at several UN Commission on the Status of women international conferences.

Awards and recognition

Bamford-Addo was awarded the best woman of the year by the American Biographical Institute in 2000 due to her zeal and unfettered efforts towards women issues and women empowerment. She is considered as a female pacesetter in law and legislation in

and an inspiration and role model generally to Ghanaian women. She was honoured by Ghana Association of Women Entrepreneurs (GAWE) at their Global Women Entrepreneur Trade Fair and Investment Forum in Accra dinner and awards night in 2011 along with other Ghana's first women top office holders Justice Georgina Theodora Wood, first woman Chief Justice, Anna Bossman, first woman Acting Commissioner for the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and Elizabeth Mills-Robertson, first woman Acting

Inspector General of Police An inspector-general of police is a senior police officer in the police force or police service of several nations. The rank usually refers to the head of a large regional command within a police service, and in many countries refers to the most ...

(IGP). In October 2011, she was honored by President John Evans Atta Mills with the Companion of the Order of the Volta, highest in the Order of Volta awards, in recognition of her outstanding service to Ghana.

Personal life

Bamford-Addo is a devout Christian and worships as a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

References

External links

Profile on Parliament of Ghana website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bamford-Addo, Joyce Adeline 1937 births Living people Ga-Adangbe people Ghanaian Roman Catholics Justices of the Supreme Court of Ghana Speakers of the Parliament of Ghana Members of the Inner Temple Ghanaian women judges Lawyers from Accra Women members of the Parliament of Ghana First women legislative speakers Alumni of Holy Child High School, Ghana 20th-century Ghanaian lawyers Ghanaian people of English descent 21st-century Ghanaian judges 20th-century Ghanaian judges