Betty Mould-Iddrisu

Betty Mould-Iddrisu
Minister for Education
In office Jan 2011 – Jan 2012
President	John Atta Mills
Preceded by	Alex Tettey-Enyo
Succeeded by	Enoch Teye Mensah
Attorney General and Minister for Justice
In office Feb 2009 – Jan 2011
President	John Atta Mills
Preceded by	Ambrose Dery
Succeeded by	Martin Amidu
Personal details
Born	22 March 1953
Nationality	Ghanaian
Political party	National Democratic Congress
Spouse(s)	Alhaji Mahama Iddrisu
Profession	Lawyer

Betty Mould-Iddrisu (born 22 March 1953^[1]) is a Ghanaian lawyer and politician. She was the Minister for Education in Ghana.^[2] Her first direct involvement in the Ghana government was as the Attorney General and Minister for Justice of Ghana since 2009. Prior to that, she had been the Head of Legal and Constitutional Affairs of the Commonwealth Secretariat in London.^[3] She is the first woman to serve in this capacity in Ghana.^[4] Mould-Iddrisu had been one of those thought to be the likely nominee for Vice President of Ghana on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).^[5]

On October 5, 2015, she was heard addressing a political rally in Kumasi where she said she was sad and ashamed to be an Ashanti (the tribe of her mother) due to Ashantis criticism and ungratefulness towards her party, the National Democratic Congress.^[6]

Education

Betty attended Achimota School for her secondary education. She obtained a bachelor's degree in Law (L.L.B) from the University of Ghana, Legon between 1973 and 1976.^[7] Her academic qualifications include a Master's Degree gained in 1978 from the London School of Economics. Between 1990 and 2000, at the same time as fulfilling her duties at the London-based Commonwealth Secretariat, she taught at the law faculty of Ghana University, also publishing various papers and articles on intellectual property.^[8]

Attorney General of Ghana

In 2003, she was appointed the Director of the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat, an inter-governmental organisation comprising 53 member states based in London.Some of the highlights of her time at the Secretariat include overseeing implementation of mandates in the area of transnational crime, counter terrorism and international humanitarian law. She oversaw the implementation of the Secretariats programmes on anti-corruption, asset recovery and judicial ethics. In addition, she implemented diverse legal program's through judicial reforms, legislative drafting and building capacity in the legal field in the Commonwealth among-st others. She has given advice to Heads of States, Ministers and she is frequently called upon to give high level advice to governments, politicians and civil society. She also advises member states in the areas of international law, constitutional law and human rights and organizes high level ministerial and senior officials meetings. She headed the Secretariat Team of the Electoral Observer Group to the 2006 Ugandan Elections. She acts as In-house-Chief legal adviser to the Secretary General and Secretariat. In that capacity she manages a team of lawyers from diverse backgrounds and is responsible for managing her divisional budget and sourcing for extra budgetary resources. She also assists the Secretary General and his two Deputies in management of the Secretariat and represents the secretariat at Tribunals and Courts. She was sworn-in in February, 2009 as the Minister of Justice and Attorney General by H.E. Prof. J.E.A. Mills, President of the Republic of Ghana. “You can only protect your liberties in this world by protecting the other man’s freedom. You can only be free if I am free.” Clarence Darrow

Resignation

She resigned from the government in January 2012. The reasons were not made public. This was a few days after her successor as Attorney-General was sacked by the President.^[9] She had been under pressure in relation to a case while she was serving as the Attorney-General.^[10] She was succeeded at the Education Ministry by Enoch Teye Mensah.^[11]

References

1. Worldwide Guide to Women in Leadership: The Republic of Ghana
2. "Cabinet reshuffle: Zita dropped, Betty for education". Ghana Home Page. 2011-01-04. Retrieved 2011-02-07.
3. Emmanuel K. Dogbevi. "Betty Mould Iddrissu Disappointed". The Ghanaian Journal. Retrieved 2009-02-28.
4. "First woman Attorney-General Sworn In". General News of Thursday, 26 February 2009. Ghana Home Page. Retrieved 2009-02-28.
5. "Betty Mould-Iddrissu ready to run with Mills". MyZongo.com. Archived from the original on March 12, 2008. Retrieved 2009-02-28.
6. Betty, Mould. "I'm ashamed to be Ashanti". Ghanaweb.com.
7. "Ministers". http://www.ghanareview.com. Ghana Review. Retrieved 18 March 2015. External link in |website= (help)
8. Moynihan Institute of global affairs -Betty Mould-Iddrisu Archived November 12, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
9. "President Mills Relieves Attorney-General Of His Post". Ghana government. Retrieved 25 January 2012.
10. "Education Minister Betty Mould-Iddrisu resigns". General News. Ghana Home Page. Retrieved 25 January 2012.
11. "E.T. Mensah Takes Over Education". General News. Ghana Home Page. Retrieved 25 January 2012.

See also

• List of Mills government ministers