Kofi Acquah-Dadzie is a Ghanaian academic, jurist and writer based in

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalaha ...

. He was the Assistant

Registrar A registrar is an official keeper of records made in a register. The term may refer to: Education * Registrar (education), an official in an academic institution who handles student records * Registrar of the University of Oxford, one of the se ...

and

Master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

of the

High Court of Botswana The High Court of Botswana is the highest court of Botswana. It is based in Gaborone with branches in Lobatse, Francistown, and Maun. It operates above the Magistrates' Courts of Botswana, but below the Appeal Court. The High Court is headed by ...

Early life and education

Acquah-Dadzie was born in 1939 at Juaso in the

Ashanti Region The Ashanti Region is located in southern part of Ghana and it is the third largest of 16 administrative regions, occupying a total land surface of or 10.2 percent of the total land area of Ghana. In terms of population, however, it is the mo ...

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

(then

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

). He had his early education at the Juaso Government School where he completed in 1953. He proceeded to Aggrey Memorial A.M.E. Zion Senior High School where he obtained his

Ordinary Level The O-Level (Ordinary Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education. It was introduced in place of the School Certificate in 1951 as part of an educational reform alongside the more in-depth ...

certificate in 1958 and the Accra Academy for his Advanced Level certificate which he received in 1964. Acquah-Dadzie subsequently entered the

University of Ghana The University of Ghana is a public university located in Accra, Ghana. It the oldest and largest of the thirteen Ghanaian national public universities. The university was founded in 1948 as the University College of the Gold Coast in the Br ...

Legon Legon , a suburb of the Ghanaian city Accra, is situated about north-east of the city center in the Accra Metropolis District, a district in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. Legon is home to the main campus of the University of Ghana. ...

for his tertiary education. There, he studied law and obtained his

LLB Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

in 1968. He then gained admission at the

Ghana School of Law The Ghana School of Law (GSL) is an educational institution in Ghana for training lawyers. The school is the only one that provides training for law graduates in the Barrister at Law program. The Professional Law Course is designed for Law Gradu ...

where he graduated with his Barrister at Law certificate and qualified as a Solicitor and Barrister of the Supreme Court of Ghana.

Career

Acquah-Dadzie worked as a grade I

Magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judic ...

and also served as an acting High Court judge in

Koforidua Koforidua, also popularly known as K-dua or Kofcity, is a city and the capital of Eastern Region in southern Ghana. Koforidua was founded in 1875 by migrants from Ashanti. It is also called New Juaben. The city has a settlement city proper pop ...

, Ghana. He later left for

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

to join the

University of Maiduguri The University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) is a Federal higher institution located in Maiduguri, the capital city of Borno State in northeast Nigeria. The university was created by the federal government of Nigeria in 1975, with the intention of its ...

staff as a chief tutor-in-law. After teaching in Nigeria for a period of time, Acquah-Dadzie took up an appointment as Senior Magistrate in

Palapye Palapye is a growing town in Botswana, situated about halfway between Francistown and Gaborone ( from Francistown and from Gaborone). Over the years its position has made it a convenient stopover on one of Southern Africa's principal north–sout ...

, Botswana. He was later elevated to the status of Principal Magistrate, serving in

Mahalapye Mahalapye is a town located in the Central District of Botswana. The town has about 41,000 inhabitants and is situated along the main road between the capital Gaborone and the second largest city Francistown. Mahalapye has a bus station, a rail ...

, Botswana. Until his retirement in 2004, he was the Assistant Registrar and

of the

Publications

Acquah-Dadzie has authored various books mostly focused on law in

and Southern Africa at large. Some of these books include; * ''Maintenance of Children and Deserted Wives: (laws of Botswana)'', (1998); * ''World Dictionary of Foreign Expressions: A Resource for Readers and Writers'' (with Gabriel Adeleye), (1999); * ''A Handbook for Prosecutors'', (2000); * ''The Law and Procedure for the Trial of Rape and Other Common Sexual Offences in Botswana'', (2000); * ''An Index to Selected Botswana Criminal Cases (1964-2002)'', (2003); * ''The Policeman's Guide to Criminal Law and Evidence in Botswana'', (2004); * ''A Guide to the Heroes Acre--: Some Basic Facts about Zimbabwe's Heroes and the Heroes Acre, Issues 1-3'' (with

Micah Cheserem Micah Cheserem is a Kenyan banker and a former chairman of the CRA Commission on Revenue Allocation. He previously worked as a Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya and Chairman of Kenya's Capital Markets Authority. Bibliography ''The will to su ...

), (2006); * ''A Long Night of Regrets: Moral Lessons for the Youth'', (2006). * ''The Moment to Decide: Breaking the Chain of Sexual Network'', (2013) * ''A Handbook for Journalists on Court Reporting'', (2014) * ''The Elements of Botswana Criminal Law Offences'', (2015)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Acquah-Dadzie, Kofi 1939 births Ghanaian academics Alumni of the Accra Academy 20th-century Ghanaian educators 20th-century Ghanaian lawyers University of Ghana alumni Living people People from Ashanti Region Ghana School of Law alumni University of Maiduguri faculty Ghanaian judges on the courts of Botswana

Early life and education

Career

Publications

See also

References