Getting To Know Diana Asonaba Dapaah

Diana Asonaba Dapaah hails from Sawua-Tetrefu in the Bosumtwi Constituency of the Ashanti Region. She was born to the late Benjamin Asonaba Dapaah and Mrs. Rosemary Dapaah at Dichemso, also in the Ashanti Region and grew up at Patasi Estate, Kumasi.

Ms. Dapaah is an accomplished lawyer whose passion for human rights, diversity and progress lights a fire underneath everything that she sets her mind to. She has as a result previously worked in various capacities.

She worked with Sam Okudzeto & Associates, one of the leading Law Firms in the country as a Senior Associate, where she brought her over 10 years’ experience to bear in handling complex cases. As a trainerin ADR and Human Rights as well as aWorld Bank certified trainer in corporate governance, she has trained lawyers, judges and ACCA members in Ghana, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Ms. Dapaah in her early years as a lawyer doubled as a Research Assistant to former Chief Justice and current member of the Council of State, Georgina Wood. In this capacity she conducted extensive research, drafted speeches for her Ladyship’s speaking engagements and also wrote researched legal opinions to facilitate Her Ladyship’s judgments.

She was also the Personal and Research Assistant to Justice Nene Amegatcher, then as the President of the Ghana Bar Association and now as a Supreme Court Judge. She therefore established herself as an accomplished researcher in diverse areas of the law including ADR, corporate law and governance and human rights.

Currently Ms. Dapaah is a lecturer in law at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) where she teaches Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), Corporate Law and Governance, Public International Law and Human Rights Law. She is also the Vice President of the Ghana ADR Hub.

Ms. Dapaah shares communities with several legal luminaries both domestic and international,including the Association of Young Arbitrators and the New York State Bar Association where she has been admitted to practice as a New York Attorney and Counselor-at-Law since 2012. As a member of the GBA, she has served on several of its committees and has played active roles in the organisation of GBA and Bench/Bar/Faculty conferences and also serving as one of the rapporteurs at the annual GBA conference. She was recently awarded the Africa’s 50 Most Promising Young Arbitration Practitioners in June 2020 as a member of the Association of Young Arbitrators.

Ms. Dapaah is an established writer and has authored a number of publications. Her in-depth knowledge and diverse experience has seen her present at countless conferences offering her opinion and expertise on pressing legal issues. In recent memory, she was the facilitator and theme Speaker at the 12th Annual Chief Justice’s Form on the theme, ‘Justice for all Under Constitutional Rule; Making Justice Delivery Accessible in a Pandemic.

Ms. Dapaah is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Cape Town in the area of business-related human rights and the Sustainable Development Goals.

She is a proud product of Wesley Girls’ High School, Cape Coast (2003 year group), and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.