Within the annals of Ghana’s authorized historical past, few names evoke as a lot admiration, respect, and awe as Mr Tsatsu Tsikata. This 12 months marks 50 years since he was known as to the Ghana Bar, a exceptional milestone that gives a possibility to replicate on the extraordinary lifetime of a person who has left an indelible mark on the authorized, educational, and political panorama of Ghana.
From prodigious beginnings to changing into probably the most formidable authorized minds of his technology, Mr Tsikata’s story is not only one in all brilliance, however of unwavering ideas, profound resilience, and quiet dignity within the face of adversity.
Early Life and
Mfantsipim Prodigy
Born in 1950 in Keta within the Volta Area, Tsatsu Tsikata’s mind shone brightly from a really early age. A gifted baby, he was enrolled in class early and entered Mfantsipim College on the age of 9 — a file that also astonishes.
His sharp mind and love for studying, debate, and logic set him aside. His friends recall a boy whose quest for studying was unrivalled and whose humility and sense of justice have been already evident. Mfantsipim didn’t simply sharpen his thoughts; it helped form the values of service and self-discipline that will information him all through his life.
Legon, Oxford and
First-Class Excellence
After Mfantsipim, Tsikata proceeded to the College of Ghana, Legon, the place he enrolled on the College of Legislation. He graduated in June 1969 with First Class Honours, and was quickly on his method, with a scholarship from Legon, to Wadham School, Oxford University to pursue a postgraduate diploma.
He obtained one other First Class Honours diploma (B.C.L, the Oxford College equal of a Grasp’s diploma in Legislation) after which in October 1972, was appointed a Junior Analysis Fellow at Corpus Christi School, the place he was additionally taught. However his coronary heart was again residence and it was on returning to Ghana that his affect can be most felt. Certainly, he took a time period away from Corpus Christi, from October to December 1973, for his first stint as a lecturer on the College of Ghana, Legon. He lastly returned to Legon in October 1974.
The Scholar Who Taught Judges
Tsatsu Tsikata is broadly recognised as a instructor of academics, of judges (together with two Chief Justices and the present Performing Chief Justice), of Parliamentarians, (together with two Audio system and a Deputy Speaker) and quite a few attorneys. On the College of Legislation, College of Ghana, he taught Ghana Authorized System to first 12 months college students and Jurisprudence to 3rd 12 months college students.
His lectures have been rigorous however thrilling, his requirements have been actualing, however college students have been drawn to his ardour, his deep analytical insights, and his capacity to attach regulation to life. He impressed not simply educational excellence, however a dedication to justice and moral conduct.
CEO of GNPC:
Constructing the
Foundations of Ghana’s
Upstream Oil Trade
It was not simply in academia that Tsatsu made a mark.
In 1988, he was appointed as Chief Govt Officer of the Ghana Nationwide Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) after having been concerned in a committee that, with technical help from the United Nations Centre for Transnational Firms, revised the authorized framework for oil exploration and manufacturing in Ghana and drafted the regulation that established GNPC and formulated a Mannequin Petroleum Settlement. At GNPC, he spearheaded the strategic groundwork that will later result in Ghana’s industrial oil and fuel manufacturing. He constructed vital institutional capacity, negotiated advanced contracts, and attracted worldwide halfnerships — all with the imaginative and prescient of safeguarding Ghana’s future vitality pursuits.
His work laid the inspiration for Ghana’s eventual discovery in 2007 of a significant oilfield -the Jubilee Area -which has beenproducing oil and fuel since November 2010. But, within the politics of the time, his stewardship of GNPC would turn out to be the topic of fierce controversy and even result in imprisonment.
Political Persecution
and Imprisonment
With the change of government in 2001, the New Patriotic Social gathering (NPP) administration led by President John Agyekum Kufuor launched an aggressive marketing campaign concentrating on key figures of the Rawlings regime. Tsatsu Tsikata was accused of “willfully inflicting monetary loss to the state” in what was broadly seen in Ghana and internationally as a politically motivated vendetta arising from his shut affiliation with President Rawlings.
Tsatsu challenged the constitutionality of the “Quick Observe Court docket” earlier than which he had been arraigned. The Supreme Court docket, by a 4-3 majority choice, determined in his favour. The Authorities was in shock and, instantly, the Attorney-Common, Nana Akufo-Addo, utilized for a reviewof the choice. A brand new choose was appointed to the Supreme Court docket by President Kufuor and one other Decide on medical go away outdoors the nation was recalled. These two judges grew to become a part of the evaluation panel of the Supreme Court docket to allow the overturning of the unique choice.
In the meantime, following the choice of the Supreme Court docket, he was now charged earlier than a standard Excessive Court docket. There, the fees have been thrown out as a result of they have been based mostly on the regulation on inflicting monetary loss which didn’t exist on the time of the actions Tsatsu was being charged with. The Constitution doesn’t permit for laws for use retroactively as a foundation for felony prosecution. But the Authorities was bent on getting Tsatsu in any respect prices and, after the overturning of the Supreme Court docket choice on the Quick Observe Excessive Court docket, he was once more put earlier than a Quick Observe Excessive Court docket, presided over by Justice Henrietta Abban, with the fees barely amended.
Finally, on June 18, 2008, Justice Henrietta Abban convicted and sentenced him to 5 years’ imprisonment although her judgment was not scheduled and Tsatsu’slawyer was not current, having notified the courtroom that he needed to journey overseas. This was even if Justice Abban had, a couple of 12 months and a half earlier, adjourned the case to await the result of an enchantment filed towards her choice granting immunity to the Worldwide Finance Corporation from testifying for the defence. She had adjourned once more after the Court docket of Enchantment affirmed her choice and Tsatsu appealed to the Supreme Court docket. A call of the courtroom was scheduled for June 25, 2018, solely per week earlier than Justice Abban’s choice to ship judgment and imprison Tsatsu.
Tsatsu remained composed and unbowed. On the Nsawam Jail, he grew to become a instructor and mentor to inmates, providing classes in regulation, ethics, and life. Remarkably, on the day that he had a critical assault of bronchial asthma in his jail cell and needed to be rushed to hospital early the subsequent morning, he had given away his bronchial asthma treatment for the usage of one other prisoner! His time in jail grew to become a testomony to his character: wherever he discovered himself, he sought to uplift others.
Refusal of Presidential Pardon and Vindication
On January 6, 2009, outgoing President Kufuor supplied Tsatsu a Presidential pardon which he rejected outright even whereas in hospital after the extreme assault of bronchial asthma in his jail cell. For him, accepting the pardon was out of the query. It will quantity to an request for forgiveness. His enchantment towards a choice he described as “a desecration of justice” was pending and he selected to struggle the case to its logical conclusion. He was exonerated subsequently when the Court docket of Enchantment, in November 2016, overturned his conviction and acquitted and discharged him on all counts.
By way of all of it, Tsatsu held no bitterness. “I harbour no hatred,” he has stated. It was a strong ethical victory that strengthened his stature as a person of precept.
Personal Authorized Apply
and Mentorship
Since returning to personal practice, Tsatsu Tsikata has continued to make a big influence on Ghana’s authorized subject. His mastery, significantly, of constitutional regulation, human rights regulation, felony regulation, industrial regulation, in addition to land regulation, has earned him a repute as probably the most formidable advocates within the nation.
His position in landmark instances — together with two election petitions and constitutional interpretation issues — continues to form jurisprudence in Ghana. Within the recent trial of Mr Gyakye Quayson, MP for Assin North, by which he was lead counsel for the MP, Tsatsu’s submission of no case, after the prosecution closed its case, led to his shopper being acquitted and discharged.
Past his courtroom triumphs, Tsatsu is a mentor to a brand new technology of attorneys, activists, and thought leaders who draw from his instance of braveness and scholarship.
Household Life
Behind the general public persona is a person of deep private commitments. Tsatsu is married to Esther Cobbah, a number one communications strategist, CEO of Stratcomm Africa and, presently, President of the Institute of Public Relations (IPR) Ghana and on the Board of the Worldwide Public Relations Affiliation (IPRA). Their union is one in all mutual respect, shared values and dedication to professional excellence.
Tsatsu usually talks –and has written -about Esther’s extraordinary care and assist throughout his time in jail. The Free Tsatsu Marketing campaign, which she organised, captured nationwide consideration whereas the reward vigils she held each month with household and associates on the Asbury Dunwell Church, the place they worship, have been highly effective expressions of their religion.
A Residing Legacy
As he marks 50 years on the Bar, Tsatsu Tsikata stands tall as a logo of mental energy, ethical integrity, and private resilience. He has been tried within the courtroom of public opinion, subjected to political persecution, and but he has emerged stronger, his reputation intact.
He stays a beacon for many who imagine that the regulation should be a device for justice, not vengeance; that scholarship should serve society; and that integrity, irrespective of how examined, is non-negotiable.
In a society that always favours expediency over precept, Tsatsu Tsikata’s life reminds us that niceness is not only about success — it’s about standing agency when the storms rage.
Conclusion
Fifty years on the Bar is not any odd milestone. For Tsatsu Tsikata, it’s a celebration of service, sacrifice, and a life within the defence of fact and justice. He has given Ghana not solely the present of his genius but in addition the inspiration of his unwavering spirit. And for that, generations will keep in mind him — not simply as a lawyer, however as a legend.
BY PETER MARTEY AGBEKO
