HON. GODFRED YEBOAH DAME
NEW ATTORNEY-GENERAL AND MINISTER FOR JUSTICE
Email :
minister@mojagd.gov.gh
Profile
On 5th March, 2021 Godfred Yeboah Dame was sworn in as Ghana’s Attorney-General and Minister for Justice by H.E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, President of the Republic of Ghana. Godfred Yeboah Dame was born on June 5, 1979. He attended Adisadel College in Cape Coast where he obtained his GCE Ordinary Level and Advanced Level Certificates between 1989 and 1996.
He graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree (LLB) in 2001 at the University of Ghana and further proceeded to the Ghana School of Law from where he obtained his professional law qualification in 2003. Godfred Yeboah Dame was called to the Bar in October 2003, and started his professional legal practice with the firm of Messrs. Akufo-Addo, Prempeh & Co., a law firm in Ghana, specializing in various aspects of civil litigation.
n 2006, in recognition of his contribution towards the defense of media and human rights, rule of law, and civil liberties generally in Ghana, Mr. Dame was awarded the Open Society Initiative Fellowship, and selected to pursue the Programme in Comparative Media Law and Policy (PCMLP) at the University of Oxford’s Centre for Socio-Legal Studies. From 2011 to 2016, Godfred Dame was part of the teaching faculty for Company Law and Practice at the Ghana School of Law. In January 2017, he was appointed as a teacher in Advocacy and Legal Ethics at the Ghana School of Law, a commitment he was unable to fulfil as a result of his appointment as Deputy Attorney-General and Minister for Justice in President Akufo-Addo’s first term administration.
He also served on very sensitive committees of the Ghana Bar Association contributing to the formulation of policy in the training of lawyers, notable among them being the Pupilage and Juniors Committee, which is concerned with the upholding of standards among junior practitioners of the law. In 2014, he was appointed a member of the Ghana Bar Association’s legal team. Mr. Dame, between 2009 and 2017, served as the Vice-Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee of the Ghana Football Association. Earlier, from 2008 to 2009, he had been Chairman of the Greater-Accra Regional Football Association’s Disciplinary Committee. From 2011 to 2017, he was also a member of the Ghana Football Association Elections Committee.
In 2013, Dame with three of the New Patriotic Party’s former Attorneys-General, Hon. Papa Owusu-Ankomah, Hon. Ayikoi Otoo and Hon. Joe Ghartey, was appointed to review the 2013 Election Petition Verdict. They came up with proposals to avoid a defeat of the Party in the 2016 elections which would result in another election petition, after having already served as one of the counsel for the Petitioners in the Election Petition. In 2016, he became a member of the New Patriotic Party Manifesto Committee on Governance which drafted the Party’s proposed policies for the Legal and Governance Sector. In 2017, he was appointed Deputy Attorney-General and Deputy Minister for Justice of Ghana, a position he until 6th January,2021. In that position, he distinguished himself in his active defense of the Government in various high-profile lawsuits against the Government and international arbitration involving the Government of Ghana.
His tremendous performance transformed the image of the Attorney-General’s Office into a formidable force in litigation. He is particularly noted for leading the efforts of the Government to recover the money paid businessman, Alfred Agbesi Woyome, ensuring the termination of three mining leases given in favour of Exton Cubic Company Limited, the challenge to the constitutionality of the appointment of Mr. Martin Amidu as Special Prosecutor, the challenge to the creation of new regions in Ghana, the challenge to the compilation of a new register of voters by the National Democratic Congress and many other cases.
He served on the Legal Service Board, the Ministerial Advisory Board of the Ministry of Justice, the Board of the University of Ghana Medical Centre and the Board of the Public Procurement Authority.
On January 21, 2021, he was nominated by President Akufo-Addo as the Attorney General and Minister for Justice and sworn into office on 5th March,2021after securing the prior approval of Parliament. Mr. Godfred Yeboah Dame is currently the 25th Attorney-General and Minister for Justice that Ghana has had.
He is a Christian and married to Dr Joycelyn Akosua Assimeng Dame, a Pediatric Infectious Disease Specialist with whom he has two children.
Profile
On 5th March, 2021 Godfred Yeboah Dame was sworn in as Ghana’s Attorney-General and Minister for Justice by H.E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, President of the Republic of Ghana. Godfred Yeboah Dame was born on June 5, 1979. He attended Adisadel College in Cape Coast where he obtained his GCE Ordinary Level and Advanced Level Certificates between 1989 and 1996.
He graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree (LLB) in 2001 at the University of Ghana and further proceeded to the Ghana School of Law from where he obtained his professional law qualification in 2003. Godfred Yeboah Dame was called to the Bar in October 2003, and started his professional legal practice with the firm of Messrs. Akufo-Addo, Prempeh & Co., a law firm in Ghana, specializing in various aspects of civil litigation.>
n 2006, in recognition of his contribution towards the defense of media and human rights, rule of law, and civil liberties generally in Ghana, Mr. Dame was awarded the Open Society Initiative Fellowship, and selected to pursue the Programme in Comparative Media Law and Policy (PCMLP) at the University of Oxford’s Centre for Socio-Legal Studies. From 2011 to 2016, Godfred Dame was part of the teaching faculty for Company Law and Practice at the Ghana School of Law. In January 2017, he was appointed as a teacher in Advocacy and Legal Ethics at the Ghana School of Law, a commitment he was unable to fulfil as a result of his appointment as Deputy Attorney-General and Minister for Justice in President Akufo-Addo’s first term administration.
He also served on very sensitive committees of the Ghana Bar Association contributing to the formulation of policy in the training of lawyers, notable among them being the Pupilage and Juniors Committee, which is concerned with the upholding of standards among junior practitioners of the law. In 2014, he was appointed a member of the Ghana Bar Association’s legal team. Mr. Dame, between 2009 and 2017, served as the Vice-Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee of the Ghana Football Association. Earlier, from 2008 to 2009, he had been Chairman of the Greater-Accra Regional Football Association’s Disciplinary Committee. From 2011 to 2017, he was also a member of the Ghana Football Association Elections Committee.
In 2013, Dame with three of the New Patriotic Party’s former Attorneys-General, Hon. Papa Owusu-Ankomah, Hon. Ayikoi Otoo and Hon. Joe Ghartey, was appointed to review the 2013 Election Petition Verdict. They came up with proposals to avoid a defeat of the Party in the 2016 elections which would result in another election petition, after having already served as one of the counsel for the Petitioners in the Election Petition. In 2016, he became a member of the New Patriotic Party Manifesto Committee on Governance which drafted the Party’s proposed policies for the Legal and Governance Sector. In 2017, he was appointed Deputy Attorney-General and Deputy Minister for Justice of Ghana, a position he until 6th January,2021. In that position, he distinguished himself in his active defense of the Government in various high-profile lawsuits against the Government and international arbitration involving the Government of Ghana.
His tremendous performance transformed the image of the Attorney-General’s Office into a formidable force in litigation. He is particularly noted for leading the efforts of the Government to recover the money paid businessman, Alfred Agbesi Woyome, ensuring the termination of three mining leases given in favour of Exton Cubic Company Limited, the challenge to the constitutionality of the appointment of Mr. Martin Amidu as Special Prosecutor, the challenge to the creation of new regions in Ghana, the challenge to the compilation of a new register of voters by the National Democratic Congress and many other cases.
He served on the Legal Service Board, the Ministerial Advisory Board of the Ministry of Justice, the Board of the University of Ghana Medical Centre and the Board of the Public Procurement Authority.
On January 21, 2021, he was nominated by President Akufo-Addo as the Attorney General and Minister for Justice and sworn into office on 5th March,2021after securing the prior approval of Parliament. Mr. Godfred Yeboah Dame is currently the 25th Attorney-General and Minister for Justice that Ghana has had.
He is a Christian and married to Dr Joycelyn Akosua Assimeng Dame, a Pediatric Infectious Disease Specialist with whom he has two children.