Emmanuel Hanson Ofori-Amankwah

Background

Emmanuel Hanson Ofori-Amankwah was born on March 22, 1941, in Toh-Kpalime, Ghana, to Henry Edison Martin Ofori-Amankwah and Dorothy Ofori-Amankwah. He later moved to Nigeria in 1973, where much of his academic and legal career developed.

His early education took place at Achimota School and Mawuli School before he entered the legal profession. His subsequent studies in Ghana, the United States, Nigeria, and theology reflected the combination of legal scholarship, professional practice, and Christian ministry that characterized his public life.

Education

Ofori-Amankwah attended Achimota School from 1955 to 1959 and Mawuli School from 1960 to 1961. Achimota, founded in the Gold Coast in 1927, became one of West Africa's prominent secondary schools and was known for combining academic education with practical and civic instruction. Mawuli School, founded in Ho in 1950, developed as a Ghanaian secondary institution with an emphasis on disciplined academic study.

He studied law at the University of Ghana, Legon, from 1963 to 1967, earning a Bachelor of Laws degree with honors. The University of Ghana, established in 1948, was the country's oldest university and a leading center of higher education in the postcolonial period. He continued at New York University School of Law from 1968 to 1971, receiving advanced legal qualifications including a Master of Laws in Criminal Justice and a J.S.D.

Ofori-Amankwah attended the Nigerian Law School in Lagos from 1980 to 1981 and later studied at Trinity Theological Seminary, Legon, from 1999 to 2001, receiving theological training and a Bachelor of Divinity qualification. The Nigerian Law School provides professional legal training for admission to the Nigerian Bar, while Trinity Theological Seminary is a major Ghanaian institution for theological education and ministerial formation.

Career

Ofori-Amankwah began his professional life in Ghanaian legal practice after completing his first law degree. He practiced as an attorney in Ghana from 1967 to 1968 and later served as a legal officer in the Legal Department of Ghana Commercial Bank in 1972 and 1973. Ghana Commercial Bank, established in 1953, became one of the country's principal commercial banking institutions during the development of Ghana's modern financial system.

In 1973 he moved to Nigeria and joined Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, where he taught law until 1987. The university, founded in 1962, became a major institution of higher education in northern Nigeria and a center for professional training and research. His teaching and research interests included criminal law, criminal procedure, evidence, criminology, human rights, and the administration of criminal justice.

Ofori-Amankwah then served at the University of Benin in Benin City from 1987 to 1992, where he became professor and dean of law. The University of Benin, founded in 1970, expanded professional and university education in southern Nigeria during the country's post-independence growth. From 1992 to 1998 he worked at the University of Jos, serving as professor, head, and dean of law. The University of Jos, established in 1975, developed as a federal university serving Nigeria's central region.

He returned to Ghana as a law professor at the University of Ghana from 1998 to 2003. From 2003 to 2008 he was associated with Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, where he served as professor and dean during the establishment and development of its Faculty of Law. KNUST, founded in 1952, was created to provide advanced scientific, technical, and professional education for Ghana's national development.

Ofori-Amankwah subsequently worked at Zenith University College from 2009 to 2010 and at Pentecost University College from 2010. His academic writing addressed criminal justice in Ghana and Nigeria, the operation of criminal codes, juvenile justice, correctional institutions, legal education, succession, and the relationship between human rights and criminal procedure. He also served in Christian ministry, including work as a lay preacher, church founder, and ordained minister.

Achievements

• Ofori-Amankwah produced legal scholarship on criminal law, criminal procedure, criminology, human rights, juvenile justice, correctional institutions, and the administration of criminal justice in Ghana and Nigeria.

• He helped establish and lead university law faculties in Ghana and Nigeria, serving as professor, head, and dean at major public universities.

• His writing connected criminal justice doctrine with the treatment of prisoners, civil liberties, and the human-rights obligations of legal institutions.

Works

• article

  • Penal Code and Criminal Code - origin and difference

    (A comparative discussion of the origins and differences b...)

    1979

  • Intestate Succession Law, 1985 PNDCL 111

    (A legal analysis of Ghana's intestate succession legislat...)

    2004

  • The scope and legal basis of the criminal jurisdiction of Ghana

    (An early legal study of the scope and foundations of crim...)

    1970

  • The challenge of alcoholism and mental social and legal philosophy

    (An article examining alcoholism and related social, legal...)

    1976

• book

  • Criminal law in the northern states of Nigeria

    (A study of criminal law in northern Nigeria, including th...)

    1986
  • United Nations standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners

    (A work attributed to Ofori-Amankwah concerning internatio...)

• essay collection

  • Selected essays in criminal justice

    (A collection of nine essays on criminal law and justice i...)

    1988

Religion

Ofori-Amankwah is a Christian associated with Pentecostal ministry. He served as a lay preacher with Living for Christ Church in Benin from 1989 to 1992, founded Trinity Bible Christ Ascension Church in Jos in 1994, and was ordained as a minister of the Lord's Pentecostal Church from 2000 to 2011.

His religious work developed within Ghanaian and Nigerian Pentecostal Christianity, a Protestant tradition characterized by evangelical preaching, conversion, prayer, Bible study, spiritual gifts, and active congregational ministry. His legal and theological education also connected Christian service with his long-standing interest in human rights, criminal justice, and the moral responsibilities of institutions.

Views

Ofori-Amankwah's legal scholarship treats criminal justice as a field in which public order must be balanced with human dignity, due process, and the continuing civic status of prisoners. His work on criminal law and corrections examined the relationship between punishment, social responsibility, legal safeguards, and the administration of justice.

His Christian ministry and theological education also informed a moral outlook centered on service, the value of the individual, and responsibility toward vulnerable members of society. His interests in youth, policing, prisons, criminology, and human rights connected legal doctrine with the practical consequences of criminal justice institutions.

Membership

Ofori-Amankwah's professional affiliations included the Ghana Bar Association and the Nigerian Bar Association, linking his academic career with the legal professions of both countries. He was also associated with Rights & Humanity in Geneva and the Civil Liberties Organisation in Jos, organizations concerned with human rights and civil liberties.

His religious participation included Living for Christ Church, Trinity Bible Christ Ascension Church, and the Lord's Pentecostal Church. These connections accompanied his academic interest in prisoners' rights, criminal justice, and the moral responsibilities of legal institutions.

• Member.

  Ghana Bar Association , Ghana

• Member.

  Nigerian Bar Association , Nigeria

• Member; associated with the organization's human-rights work in Geneva.

  Rights & Humanity , Switzerland

• Patron in Jos.

  Civil Liberties Organisation , Nigeria

• Founder.

  Trinity Bible Christ Ascension Church , Nigeria

  1994 - present

Personality

Quotes from others about the person

• In his writing on prisoners and criminal justice, Ofori-Amankwah emphasized that convicted persons remain human beings and citizens, even when their liberty is lawfully restricted. This position expressed a rights-based approach to criminal justice and prison administration.

Interests

• Christian ministry, criminal justice, human rights, criminology, and prison administration.

• Sport & Clubs

  Cricket, hockey, and football.

Connections

Ofori-Amankwah married Elizabeth Susan Odani. They had three children: Gerhard, Hermann, and Dorothy. His parents were Henry Edison Martin Ofori-Amankwah and Dorothy Ofori-Amankwah.

Father:

Henry Edison Martin Ofori-Amankwah

Mother:

Dorothy Ofori-Amankwah

Wife:

Elizabeth Susan Odani

Son:

Gerhard Ofori-Amankwah

Son:

Hermann Ofori-Amankwah

Daughter:

Dorothy Ofori-Amankwah

References

• Rev. Prof. E.H. Ofori-Amankwah - About Me Personal biographical account documenting Ofori-Amankwah's education, professional appointments, legal qualifications, areas of interest, and Christian ministry.
• Faculty of Law Staff List, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Institutional staff list identifying E.H. Ofori-Amankwah as professor, dean, and head within the Faculty of Law and recording his legal and academic qualifications.
  2006
• Selected essays in criminal justice - AfricaBib Bibliographic record documenting Ofori-Amankwah's authorship, the 1988 publication date, publisher, and subject coverage of Selected essays in criminal justice.
  1988
• E. H. Ofori-Amankwah - Open Library Bibliographic author record listing works associated with Ofori-Amankwah, including Criminal law in the northern states of Nigeria, Selected essays in criminal justice, and other legal and religious titles.