The University of Professional Studies-Accra (UPSA) Law School has conferred a Lifetime Achievement in Law Award on celebrated legal luminary Tsatsu Tsikata, recognising his five-decade-long career as a lawyer, public servant, and academic.
The award was presented on Tuesday at the school’s “Honorific Public Lecture and Awards” ceremony, which celebrated Tsikata’s enduring influence and contributions to Ghana’s legal landscape.
His career has seen him involved in some of the country’s most historic and delicate trials. In May 1979, he appeared before a military tribunal in the trial of former President Jerry John Rawlings.
More recently, in 2013, he served as lead counsel for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Supreme Court, successfully defending President John Mahama’s first-term victory in the 2012 presidential election. He again led the legal team for then-opposition leader John Mahama following the 2020 presidential election.
Beyond the courtroom, Tsikata was a lecturer at the University of Ghana Faculty of Law, having earlier earned a First Class LLB from the same institution before obtaining a First Class in the Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) at Oxford University. He also spent two years as a Junior Research Fellow at Corpus Christi College, Oxford.
In public service, he was instrumental in the formation of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), which he headed from 1992 to 2000, and was responsible for establishing the framework for the country’s upstream petroleum sector.
Tuesday’s event, interspersed with musical performances by the UPSA Law Christian Fellowship Choir, saw a visibly elated Tsikata dressed in traditional kente cloth, accompanied by his wife, Esther Cobbah.
Among the dignitaries present were Vice-President Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang; Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie and other superior court judges; former Speaker of Parliament and Chairman of the Council of State, Doe Adjaho; and former Attorney-General and Council of State Member, Betty Mould-Iddrisu, who delivered a lecture.
Others included Goosie Tanoh, Presidential Advisor on the 24-Hour Economy; Dr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, Political Advisor to the Vice-President; Prof. Joshua Alabi, Board Chairman of GCB Bank; Prof. John Kwaku Mawutor, Vice-Chancellor of UPSA; Prof. Kofi Abotsi, Dean of UPSA Law School; and GNPC Chief Executive Kwame Ntow Amoah.
Also in attendance were former CHRAJ Commissioners Francis Emile Short and Anna Bossman; former University of Ghana Vice-Chancellor Prof. George Akilagpa Sawyerr; and Ghana’s Special Envoy to Sahelian States, Larry Gbevlo-Lartey.
The ceremony drew Tsikata’s former law students, alumni of his alma mater, Mfantsipim School, family, friends, and UPSA Law School students, who witnessed the recognition of a man whose legacy and public-interest advocacy have shaped generations of legal practitioners in Ghana and beyond.
In her tribute, Vice-President Opoku-Agyemang described Tsikata’s journey as one of “scholarship, advocacy and public service,” urging the younger generation, particularly aspiring legal professionals, to emulate his example.
“His career reflects a particular understanding of the law, not only as a profession but also as a discipline that demands rigour, independence and judgement,” she said. “That is important because the law does not sustain itself. Constitutions do not enforce themselves. Institutions do not operate in a vacuum. They depend on people willing to test arguments, question assumptions, and, when necessary, stand their ground for the greater good.”
She added: “The role of the legal profession is to interpret the law and, in the process, ensure that power is exercised within limits, consistently, and in the best interests of the nation. Mr Tsikata’s work directly illustrates that responsibility.”
In a citation, UPSA Law School Dean Prof. Kofi Abotsi described Tsikata’s body of work as “frontiers of Ghanaian jurisprudence, reflecting both your depth of intellectual rigour and an unwavering commitment to the public good.”
“Through your exceptional brilliance in practice and academia, you have left an indelible imprint on legal thought in the Commonwealth of Ghanaian law,” he said.
Delivering a lecture titled “The Man, the Moment and the Mettle,” Betty Mould-Iddrisu, a former student of Tsikata, eulogised him as a symbol of resilience and excellence, underscoring a career marked by unwavering commitment to the judicial system and the practice of law.
