Committee Members

Prof. Henry Kwasi Prempeh

Chairman

H. Kwasi Prempeh has been the Executive Director of CDD-Ghana since 2019 and was previously its first Director of Legal Policy and Governance and a founding board member. He is also the founding Project Director of WADEMOS, a regional democracy defense network comprising over 40 civil society organizations across ECOWAS. From 2003 to 2015, he was a tenured professor at Seton Hall University School of Law (USA), teaching constitutional law and corporate law. He has also been a visiting professor at GIMPA Law School and has co-taught "Constitution Building in Africa" at Central European University, Budapest, since 2014. His international work includes serving as a constitutional adviser to the UN Special Envoy to Yemen, consulting on reforms in South Sudan and The Gambia, and advising the Kenyan Supreme Court on constitutional adjudication. Prempeh was awarded the Order of the Volta in 2023 for his role in the Ghana-Côte d’Ivoire Maritime Boundary case. He served on the Ghana Law Reform Commission (2017–2024) and is a member of the Africa Judges and Jurists Forum and the Africa Judicial Independence Fund. Previously, he practiced as an attorney in Washington, D.C., with O’Melveny & Myers LLP and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton. He was a 2011 Reagan-Fascell Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy and a 2024 Richard von Weizsäcker Fellow at the Robert Bosch Academy in Berlin. Prempeh holds a J.D. from Yale Law School, where he was Notes Editor of the Yale Law Journal and a Coker Fellow. He also has an MBA from Baylor University, Texas, and a BSc in Management from the University of Ghana Business School.

Dr. Rainer Akumperigya, Esq.

Secretary

Rainer Akumperigya, Esq., is a founding partner at Partners and Associates, an Accra-based law firm specializing in legal consultancy for corporate entities and international oil companies. With over a decade of experience in litigation, he has played a key role in corporate mergers and joint partnerships. A dedicated legal scholar, he has contributed to academia through publications and teaching at UPSA Law School, GIMPA Law School, and transnational programs at the CAS European Institute. His research focuses on constitutional theory, upstream risk governance, and land law management in Africa. Dr. Akumperigya holds an LLB from the University of Ghana, a BL from the Ghana School of Law, and an LLM and PhD in Law from the University of Aberdeen, UK.

Justice Sophia O.A. Adinyira

Justice Sophia O. A. Adinyira is a retired Supreme Court Judge of Ghana, with a distinguished 30-year judicial career, serving 13 years on the Supreme Court, 7 years on the Court of Appeal, and 10 years as a High Court Judge. Her legal expertise spans human rights, constitutional law, administrative law, criminal law, land law, labor law, and international law. Beyond the bench, she chaired several key bodies, including the Judicial Training Institute, the Council for Law Reporting, and the National Multisectoral Committee on Child Protection. She also played a crucial role in investigating judicial corruption allegations (Tiger Eye PI petition) and contributed to Ghana's constitutional review process. Internationally, she served as a Judge on the United Nations Appeals Tribunal (2009–2016), holding positions as President and Vice-President. She has delivered lectures and participated in global forums on judicial integrity, gender rights, child protection, and legal reforms. In 2010, she received the UNCRC @ 20 Award for her contributions to child welfare. Earlier in her career, she was a Principal State Attorney at the Attorney-General’s Department. A University of Ghana-trained lawyer, she was called to the Ghana Bar in 1971. A devoted Anglican, she has held leadership roles in the Anglican Church of West Africa, serving as Diocesan Chancellor in Ghana and The Gambia and as Vice Moderator of the World Council of Churches (1998–2006).

Charlotte A. Kesson-Smith Osei, Esq.

Charlotte A. Kesson-Smith Osei is a highly accomplished lawyer with 30 years of experience across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. She has broken multiple barriers in her career, becoming the first female Chair of Ghana’s National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) and later, the first female Chair of Ghana’s Electoral Commission (EC). Under her leadership, Ghana successfully conducted the globally acclaimed 2016 Presidential and Parliamentary elections. She has held several key international roles, including serving as President of the African Association of Election Authorities, Vice Chairperson of the Executive Board of the African Capacity Building Foundation, and an International Elections Commissioner in Afghanistan, where she helped strengthen electoral dispute resolution. She has also led ECOWAS election missions in Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. Her leadership in organizing Ghana’s 2016 elections earned her a nomination for the prestigious Chatham House Award and the Woman of Courage Award (2017) from the U.S. Government.

Dr. Esi E. Ansah

Dr. Esi E. Ansah is the Executive Director of the Center for Leadership at Ashesi University, where she designs leadership programs for senior executives across various sectors. With over 20 years of experience in higher education and corporate Ghana, she specializes in leadership development, HR consulting, service quality, social entrepreneurship, and public sector reform. She holds three bachelor’s degrees in Psychology, International Affairs, and French from Florida State University, an MA in Social Sciences from the University of Chicago, an MSc in Public Service Management from DePaul University, and a PhD in Public Administration from Rutgers University. Since joining Ashesi University in 2008, she has taught Leadership, HR Management, Negotiation, and Organizational Behavior, receiving multiple awards for her inspiring teaching style. She also founded Axis Human Capital Ltd., providing corporate training and career coaching for 16 years. Passionate about social impact, she established the Association of Ghana’s Elders (AGE) in 2013, supporting senior citizens, and even climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in 2015 to raise awareness and funds for AGE. Dr. Ansah serves on several boards, including AROCSA, Emerging Public Leaders Ghana, Springboard Road Show Foundation, and Telecel Ghana Foundation. She is also a Fellow of the Aspen Institute’s Africa Leadership Initiative - West Africa (ALIWA) and an active member of the Legon Interdenominational Church (LIC).

Prof. Kwame Karikari

Professor Kwame Karikari has had a distinguished career as a journalist, activist, and academic. He retired as a Professor of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Ghana, where he also served as Director of the School of Communications. He later became Dean of Communication Studies at Wisconsin University (Ghana). His leadership roles include serving as Director-General of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (1982-1984) and Chairman of the Graphic Communications Group Limited (2012-2018). A trained teacher, he studied at Komenda Training College and University of Education, Winneba before earning a BA in Philosophy and Political Science from the City College of New York and an MA in Journalism from Columbia University. Professor Karikari worked with U.S. newspapers, including the Augusta Weekly and Africa News, before returning to Ghana in 1979 to begin his academic career. A committed freedom of expression and social justice activist, he founded and led the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) and has consulted for UNESCO, ECOWAS, and the African Union. He has organized journalism workshops across Africa and served on the National Media Commission (Ghana), the Press Freedom Commission of South Africa, and other international media and human rights organizations. In 2023, the University of Ghana awarded him an honorary Doctor of Letters for his contributions to press freedom and journalism.

Mr. Ibrahim-Tanko Amidu

Ibrahim-Tanko Amidu is a social development expert with over 30 years of experience in development management, governance, and civil society strengthening. He has led initiatives to improve public service delivery, democratic governance, institutional development, and peace and security in Ghana. A highly respected Thought Leader, Mr. Amidu has spoken at various international, national, and local forums on inclusive development, governance, and security. His contributions have earned him multiple awards, including the World Bank’s Leadership Prize for Social Accountability in Africa. In 2018, he was honored as an Honorary Fellow by the Ghana Institute of Directors. He holds a Master’s degree in Social Policy from the University of Ghana’s Centre for Social Policy Studies and a Bachelor’s degree in Administration from the same institution. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Social Policy at the University of Ghana, Legon. Mr. Amidu is married and has four children.

Dr. Godwin Dzokoto

Dr. Godwin Djokoto is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana School of Law, specializing in Immovable Property Law, Banking Law, Equity and Succession, Contract Law, Ocean Law, and International Maritime Conflict Management. He holds a Ph.D. from the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS) at the University of Wollongong, Australia, an LL.M from Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University, Canada, and an LL.B from the University of Ghana, Legon. After completing his Qualifying Certificate of Law (QCL) at the Ghana School of Law, he was called to the Ghana Bar in 2003. Dr. Djokoto has played a key role in maritime governance and international law, serving as a member of the expert panel for Ghana’s Ocean Governance Study (2023) and a legal and technical representative in the Ghana-Côte d’Ivoire Maritime Boundary Dispute before ITLOS. He has also worked with FAO and IIED on governance guidelines for land, forestry, and fisheries and is a representative on the Technical Working Group revising the Gulf of Guinea Commission Treaty. He is the coordinator of the Ocean Governance Project at the University of Ghana and has extensive legal consultancy and private practice experience in banking, fisheries management, land law, and construction regulation. He has served as a resource person for the Commercial Court, Ghana Shippers Authority, and IUCN. In 2005, he worked at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, contributing to legal commentaries on the Rome Statute. A member of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association, International Law Association, World Jurist Association, and Ghana Bar Association, Dr. Djokoto has authored peer-reviewed articles, "The Law of Mortgages in Ghana," and serves as Editor of the Commercial Law Reports of Ghana. In recognition of his contributions, he was awarded the Order of the Volta, Companion, for representing Ghana in the Ghana-Côte d’Ivoire Maritime Boundary Delimitation Dispute before ITLOS in Hamburg.

GHANA 2025 CONSTITUTION REVIEW