Joyce Adeline Bamford-Addo

Joyce Bamford-Addo, born in 1937, attended St. Mary's Boarding School and Holy Child School in Cape Coast for her basic education. She later went to the United Kingdom for legal training, joining the Inner Temple and the English Bar in 1961.

After spending a year working in the United Kingdom, Bamford-Addo went back to Ghana. In 1962, she was admitted to the Ghana Bar. She began her career in 1963 as an Assistant State Attorney before being promoted to State Attorney, Senior State Attorney, and finally Principal State Attorney. In 1973, she attained the position of Chief State Attorney. She held the job of Director of Public Prosecutions for 10 years beginning in 1976.

In 1991, Jerry Rawlings also appointed her as a Supreme Court judge, making her Ghana's first female Supreme Court justice. She voluntarily left the Supreme Court in October 2004 after several years of service in the government. She reportedly announced her retirement as a result of the Chief Justice's appointment, when Justice George Kingsley Acquah, her junior, was chosen instead of her.

Bamford-Addo was appointed to the position of second deputy speaker of Ghana's Consultative Assembly in 1991, near the end of the Provisional National Defense Council (PNDC) phase, which was established to prepare the 1992 constitution.

In 2000, the American Biographical Institute recognized Bamford-Addo as the finest woman of the year. She is a trailblazer in Ghanaian law and legislation, inspiring and role modeling for women. She was recognized by the Ghana Association of Women Entrepreneurs in 2011 alongside other first-ever female officeholders, including Justice Georgina Theodora Wood, Anna Bossman, and Elizabeth Mills-Robertson.

She became the first woman to hold the position of Speaker of the Fourth Parliament of the Fourth Republic of Ghana, succeeding Ebenezer Sekyi-Hughes. She became the second woman to lead a branch of government after Georgina Theodora Woods. She became well-known globally, joining other female speakers like Nancy Pelosi and Betty Boothroyd.

Bamford-Addo belongs to the Ghana Bar Association, the Commonwealth Lawyers Association, the Catholic Lawyers Guild, and the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA). She was a Supreme Court Judge who also served as a member of the Judicial Council (General Legal Council) and the Legal Aid Board while employed by the government.

Bamford-Addo is a Roman Catholic and devout Christian