H.E. Judge (Rtd.) Akua Kuenyehia is one of Ghana’s most distinguished legal scholars and internationally respected jurists. A trailblazer in academia and international justice, she was the first woman to be appointed a full Professor of Law in Ghana. Educated at the University of Ghana and the University of Oxford, she has dedicated her career to advancing justice, human rights, and opportunities for women and girls. Her scholarship extended beyond Ghana’s borders.

Judge Kuenyehia spent much of her academic career at the University of Ghana, where she rose from lecturer to Dean of the Faculty of Law. She taught criminal law, public international law, international human rights law, and gender and law, and served as a visiting professor at Leiden University and Temple University. She also coordinated the landmark research project Women and Law in Anglophone West Africa, spanning Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and The Gambia. She has authored three (3) books and numerous publications on gender and the law, family law, and international human rights.

In 2003, she was elected as a Judge of the International Criminal Court (ICC) by the Government of Ghana in The Hague, one of only three female African Judges among the Court’s 18 members. She served until 2015. During her tenure, she became First Vice-President of the Court and President of the Appeals Division. As a member of the Pre-Trail Division, she accessed evidence in war crimes and crimes against humanity cases, deciding whether matters should proceed to trail. Her deep knowledge of the African continent – its legal traditions, social realities and the particular vulnerabilities of its women was widely recognised as an invaluable asset to the court. She also played a key role in the administration of international criminal justice and the adjudication of cases involving war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Throughout her career, Judge Kuenyehia has been a pioneer for equal opportunity, justice and development for women. A passionate advocate for women’s empowerment, Judge Kuenyehia represented Ghana on the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), working to strengthen its global influence. She has long championed access to education for girls through mentorship and personal support initiatives. On a personal level, she has long funded the secondary education of girls in Ghana and actively mentors’ young women believing that girls are disproportionately the first to lose access to schooling when families face hardship. Her conviction is simple: Education is not yet widespread enough and someone must act.

Her contributions have earned widespread recognition, including the naming of the University of Ghana Faculty of Law building in her honour and the award of an honorary doctorate from the University of Ghana and an award from the Women’s Law and Public Policy Fellowship Program at Georgetown University. She currently serves as President of MountCrest University College, Ghana, continuing to inspire and shape future generations of leaders.

Today, her legacy lives on through the Akua Kuenyehia Foundation, which empowers girls and young women through education, mentorship, and opportunity. Rooted in her belief in the transformative power of education, the Foundation continues to unlock opportunities and create lasting change in the lives of young women and girls across Ghana.