Edward Korbly Doe Adjaho, (born 3 January 1957) is a

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 ...

ian

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

and lawyer who was

Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana The Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana is the presiding officer of the Parliament of Ghana. The current speaker is Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin. He was elected on 7 January 2021. History The first speaker of the Parliament of Ghana was Sir ...

from 2013 to 2017. He is the first speaker to have been elected from among members of Ghana's parliament. He thus became the fifth Speaker of the Fourth Republic of Ghana. Following his elevation to the position of Speaker, he resigned his position as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for the Avenor-Ave constituency in the

Parliament of Ghana The Parliament of Ghana is the legislative body of the Government of Ghana. History Legislative representation in Ghana dates back to 1850, when the country was a British colony known as Gold Coast. The body, called the Legislative Council, ...

. He was one of the few politicians who retained their seats in parliament throughout the Fourth Republic of Ghana serving for 20 years from 1993 to 2013. He was also a member of the Pan-African Parliament.

Early life and education

Edward Korbly Doe Adjaho was born on 3 January 1957. He studied at the Accra Academy for his secondary school education and continued his education at 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 ...

, where he obtained the Bachelor of Law degree,

LL.B. 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 1984. He enrolled 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 trained to become a

barrister-at-law A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and g ...

and was called to the bar in 1986. He worked at the Attorney-General's department before turning to politics.

Career

Adjaho is a lawyer by profession. He worked at the Attorney-General's Department. He was also a Member of Parliament from January 1993 to January 2013.

Politics

Member of Parliament

Adjaho stood on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress in the 1992 parliamentary election and retained his seat in all four subsequent elections. He was a member of parliament of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th parliament of the Republic of Ghana. He was the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament from 2009 to 2013.

Speaker of Parliament

He was elected to the position of Speaker of Parliament in the morning of 7 January 2013, succeeding Joyce Adeline Bamford-Addo.He is the first speaker to have been elected from among members of Ghana's parliament. He thus became the fifth Speaker of the Fourth Republic of Ghana. By virtue of Article 97 of the 1992 Constitution, Adjaho vacated his seat upon assumption of the office of Speaker of Parliament. He was sworn in by Chief Justice Georgina Theodora Woode at the first sitting of the new Parliament. He was the Speaker of Parliament until his tenure ended on 6 January 2017 after the 6th Parliament was dissolved.

Elections

Adjaho was elected into the first parliament of the fourth republic of Ghana on 7 January 1993 after he was pronounced winner at the

1992 Ghanaian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Ghana on 29 December 1992, the first since 1979. Voter turnout was just 28.1% amidst a boycott by opposition parties, who had claimed the preceding presidential elections in November – won by former military ...

held on 29 December 1992. He was elected as the member of parliament for the Avenor constituency in the

2000 Ghanaian general election General elections were held in Ghana on 7 December 2000, with a second round of the presidential election on 28 December. His constituency was a part of the 17 parliamentary seats out of 19 seats won by the National Democratic Congress in that election for the Volta Region. The National Democratic Congress won a minority total of 92 parliamentary seats out of 200 seats in the 3rd parliament of the 4th republic of Ghana. He was elected with 23,981 votes out of 31,431 total valid votes cast. This was equivalent to 78.3% of the total valid votes cast. He was elected over Abledu A. Kofi of the

United Ghana Movement The United Ghana Movement is a political party in Ghana. The founder is Charles Wereko-Brobby, formerly a leading member of the New Patriotic Party. Registration The party was officially registered with the Electoral Commission of Ghana as a pol ...

, Vincent K. Norgbedzi of the

Convention People's Party The Convention People's Party (CPP) is a socialist political party in Ghana based on the ideas of the first President of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah. The CPP was formed in June 1949 after Nkrumah broke away from the United Gold Coast Convention (UG ...

and Nicholas C. Megbele of the

New Patriotic Party , logo = , colorcode = #132f7a , founder = , founded = 28 July 1992 , dissolved = , leader = Nana Akufo-Addo , chairman = Stephen Ayensu Ntim Stephen Ntim elected NPP National Chairman on fifth attempt http://www.gna.org.gh/1.2152672 ...

. These obtained 5,665, 616 and 364 votes respectively out of the total valid votes cast. These were equivalent to 18.5%, 2% and 1.2% respectively of total valid votes cast.

Personal life

Adjaho is a Christian. He is married and has four children.

References

Sources

GhanaDistricts.com
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Adjaho, Edward Alumni of the Accra Academy 1957 births Living people Ghanaian MPs 1993–1997 Ghanaian MPs 1997–2001 Ghanaian MPs 2001–2005 Ghanaian MPs 2005–2009 Ghanaian MPs 2009–2013 National Democratic Congress (Ghana) politicians University of Ghana alumni Speakers of the Parliament of Ghana Ghana School of Law alumni Ghanaian Christians 20th-century Ghanaian lawyers 21st-century Ghanaian politicians Ewe people