Isaac Kobina Donkor Abban (1933 – 21 April 2001) was the Chief Justice of Ghana between 1995 and 2001. He was the ninth person to hold this position since Ghana became an independent nation.

Early life and education

Abban was born in 1933 at Agona Nkum in the Central Region. He had his secondary education at

Mfantsipim School Mfantsipim is an all-boys boarding secondary school in Cape Coast, Ghana, established by the Methodist Church in 1876 to foster intellectual, moral, and spiritual growth on the then Gold Coast. Its founding name was Wesleyan High School and ...

from 1948 to 1951. He left for 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 Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

to study law at the

University of Nottingham , mottoeng = A city is built on wisdom , established = 1798 – teacher training college1881 – University College Nottingham1948 – university status , type = Public , chancellor ...

Career

He was called to the English bar on 24 June 1958. He returned to Ghana in 1959 and entered private practice until he was called to the bench of the High Court in May 1970.

Electoral Commissioner

Justice Abban was called to the Ghanaian bar on 18 April 1959. While a High Court Judge, he was appointed the electoral commissioner and supervised the controversial 'Union Government (UNIGOV)' referendum on 30 March 1978 during the Supreme Military Council (SMC) era. At a point during the referendum, he went into hiding in fear of his life from the military authorities. This was because he opposed the attempts to rig the UNIGOV referendum by the military SMC government. His successor Justice Kinsgley Nyinah supervised the 1979 election that saw Dr Limann win to become president of Ghana.

Chief Justice

He left for

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, ...

where he served as the Chief Justice from 1990 to 1993. On his return to Ghana, he rejoined the Judicial Service of Ghana and was appointed to the Supreme Court of Ghana. On 22 February 1995, he was appointed Chief Justice by the President,

Jerry Rawlings Jerry John Rawlings (22 June 194712 November 2020) was a Ghanaian military officer and politician who led the country for a brief period in 1979, and then from 1981 to 2001. He led a military junta until 1992, and then served two terms as the de ...

Death

Justice Abban was due to retire on 1 May 2001, for health reasons. He died a few days before that on 21 April 2001 in Accra, Ghana at the age of 67.

Notes

External links

Picture of Justice I.K. Abban
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abban, Isaac Kobina 20th-century Ghanaian lawyers 2001 deaths 1933 births Chief justices of Seychelles Ghanaian Freemasons Ghanaian judges on the courts of Seychelles Ghanaian Methodists Mfantsipim School alumni Alumni of the University of Nottingham Justices of the Supreme Court of Ghana People from Central Region (Ghana)