UPSA CONFERS HONORARY DOCTORATE DEGREES ON THREE DISTINGUISHED WOMEN WITH UNBROKEN PROFESSIONAL AND PUBLIC SERVICE RECORD TO GHANA
Legon, Accra –The University of Professional Studies, Accra, will on Tuesday, December 12, 2023 hold its fifth Session of the 15th Congregation at the Kofi Ohene-Konadu Auditorium (KOKA) at 9.30 a.m.
During the event, the University will confer honorary doctorate degrees on three distinguished women, a testament to their excellence spanning decades of unbroken professional and public service to Ghana on Tuesday.
The recipients of the honorary doctorate degrees include:
Her Excellency Mrs. Rebecca Akufo-Addo, founder of The Rebecca Foundation is being honoured for her exceptional visionary ideas and lifetime engagements, immensely contributing to the development of the general well-being of women and children’s health and education in society. The Founder has impacted lives positively through The Rebecca Foundation — changing destinies and building lives.
Born on March 12, 1951, in the Greater Accra Region to a Judge who served as Speaker of Parliament of Ghana in the Third Republic, Jacob Hackenburg Griffiths-Randolph and Mrs. Frances Phillipina Griffiths-Randolph. Mrs. Akufo-Addo’s early formal education was at Achimota Primary School and Wesley Grammar School, both in Accra. Mrs. Akufo-Addo continued her education at the Government Secretariat where she qualified as a Secretary and worked at Merchant Bank in Ghana. She relocated to the United Kingdom, UK, and worked as a Legal Secretary for Clifford Chance, and Ashurst Morris Crisp, multinational law firms in the UK.
Her passion for efficient healthcare saw her mobilise corporate Ghana through her Foundation to construct and commission a new Pediatric and Intensive Care Unit at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra in 2019. Mrs. Akufo-Addo also launched the “Free to Shine” campaign, to stop mother-to-child transmission of ADS, which corresponds with the Organisation of the African First Ladies campaign against HIV and AIDS.
At the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital(KATH), in Kumasi the same year, her Foundation established the “Save the Child, Save the Mother” project, which is both a Mother and Baby Unit (MBU) and a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). This project is expected to reduce maternal and infant mortality. and was supported by the Multimedia Group, KATH, Manhyia Palace, and the Government of Japan, among other social causes.
Rt, Hon. Justice Adeline Bamford-Addo (former Speaker of Parliament) is being honoured for her professional and remarkable service in the public service in Ghana as the pacesetter in both the judiciary and legislature. Her rich experience and expertise contributed greatly to the drafting of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana. The first female Director of Public Prosecutions. By dint of hard work and long service on the bench, she was appointed as a Supreme Court Judge in 1991.
Her appointment was unprecedented as the first female Justice to the Supreme Court of Ghana. Rt Hon. Bamford-Addo’s remarkable achievements paved the way for a new dawn of women justices in Ghana’s Supreme Court. She was the first female Speaker of Parliament of Ghana and in the West Africa sub-region.
Born in March 1937, Rt. Hon. Joyce Bamford-Addo attended St. Mary’s Boarding School and Our Lady of Apostles (OLA) Boarding School in Cape Coast for her basic education and subsequently attended Holy Child School for her secondary education. Determined to acquire the requisite knowledge to ensure success in life, Rt. Hon. Bamford-Addo proceeded to the United Kingdom for legal training, where she joined the prestigious Imer Temple to train under the apprenticeship system known as Court and was called to the English Bar in 1961 and Ghana Bar in 1962.
Her Lady Justice (Mrs.) Georgina Theodora Wood (Former Chief Justice) is a testament to her excellence spanning decades of unbroken professional & and public service to Ghana. Her Ladyship Justice Wood’s distinguished career on the Bench spans over thirty-five years. Her appointment as the first woman Chief Justice of Ghana and the youngest to occupy this position in Ghana continues to inspire more women in Ghana and the rest of Africa to aspire for higher positions. Her Ladyship Justice Wood also laid a strong foundation for the judiciary of Ghana due to her niche expertise in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), which has served nations both near and far in immeasurable ways. Her visionary leadership, adoption of cutting-edge strategies to sanitize the judicial system, and commitment to women’s empowerment, demonstrate her relentless commitment to justice.
Born on June 8, 1947, Her Ladyship Justice Georgina Theodora Wood had her basic education at Bishop Girls’ School, Accra, Methodist Primary School, Dodowa, and Mmofraturo Girls’ Boarding School, Kumasi from 1958 to 1960. Her Ladyship Georgina Wood attended Wesley Girls’ High School, Cape Coast between 1960 and 1966. She continued to the University of Ghana, Legon, for her Bachelor of Laws degree in 1969 and was called to the Bar in 1970.
Her Ladyship Justice Wood started her career as a Deputy Superintendent of Police in 1971 and exited in 1974. In 1974, she was appointed a Magistrate of the District Court. Justice Wood’s hard work, integrity, professionalism, and dedication to justice and the judicial system led to her rise through the ranks of the judicial system. In 1991, she was elevated to the Court of Appeal. Subsequently, she was elevated to the Supreme Court in November 2002, and in June 2007, she was appointed as Chief Justice. She is the only Chief Justice who had the opportunity to swear in four presidents under the country’s 4th Republic Constitution.
The fifth Session of the 15th Congregation will be graduating students from Ph.D. Marketing, MA in Peace, Security, and Intelligence Management, MSc. Pensions Management, MA in Brands Management Postgraduate Diploma in Leadership and Organisational Development programmes.
SIGNED
Mrs Aba Lokko
Public Affairs Director
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