Dixon Kwame Afreh JSC (1933 - 2004) was a Ghanaian judge, academic and a former Deputy Electoral Commissioner.

Dixon Kwame Afreh
Justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana
In office
19 March 2002 – September 2003
Appointed byJohn Kufuor
Commissioner for Information and Cocoa Affairs
In office
June 1979 – September 1979
Preceded byParker H.S. Yarney
Succeeded byYaw O. Afriyie
Personal details
Born(1933-03-25)25 March 1933
Kumasi, Ghana
Died17 February 2004(2004-02-17) (aged 70)
Accra, Ghana
Resting placeBarekese, Ghana
Political partyJustice Party
SpouseRosalind
Children5
Alma materAchimota School
University of Birmingham
University of London
ProfessionJudge, Lecturer

Early life and education

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Afreh's secondary education was at the Achimota School in Ghana between 1949 and 1954. He then studied law at the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom, completing in July 1958. He also studied for a Masters in Law at the University of London from October 1958 to October 1960.[1]

Career

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Kwame Afreh was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn, London in February 1960.[1] He returned to Ghana after his studies and worked in various capacities.

Academic work

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Kwame Afreh joined the University of Ghana and was a lecturer with the Faculty of Law between 1962 and 1975. He became a Senior Lecturer at the Law Department as well as the Acting Dean of the Faculty of Law. He was also the Master of Commonwealth Hall at the same university.[1] During his vetting leading to his appointment to the Supreme Court of Ghana, he listed John Atta Mills, a former President of Ghana and law lecturer, Kwamena Ahwoi, also a former law lecturer as well as former Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Rawlings government as his former law students. The list also included some of the judges already on the Supreme Court.[2]

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From 1975 until 1978, he was a Chief State Attorney at the Attorney General's Department in Accra. He was also the Director of Legal Education at the General Legal Council between April 1973 and June 1980.[1] In June 1994, He was appointed a Justice of the Court of Appeal of Ghana. Afreh was appointed as a Supreme Court Judge by John Kufuor, President of Ghana in March 2002.[2] He presided over the Fast Track Court which sentenced two former ministers, Kwame Peprah, former Minister for Finance, Ibrahim Adam, Former Minister of Food and Agriculture and George Yankey, a former Director of Legal Sector, Private and Financial Institutions of the Ministry of Finance to two years imprisonment in April 2003.[3]

Other work

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Afreh became Head of Administration and later Financial Controller at the Pan-African News Agency in Dakar, Senegal between June 1981 and October 1992. He was also Deputy Electoral Commissioner of the Electoral Commission of Ghana from 1992 to 1994. He returned to legal work following this appointment. He was the Commissioner for Information and Cocoa Affairs under the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council in 1979.

Politics

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During the second republic of Ghana, Afreh served as Deputy General Secretary of the Justice Party.[4]

Death

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Kwame Afreh died at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital following an illness. He was buried in his hometown of Barekese in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.[5]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Justice Afreh passes away - Detailed Report". Ghana Web. 19 February 2004. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Afreh gets Parliamentary approval to Supreme Court". Ghana Web. 19 March 2002. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  3. ^ "Peprah, Adam, Yankey jailed in Quality Grain case". Ghana Review International. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  4. ^ "Departments of State, Justice, and Commerce, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations for Fiscal Year 1974: H.R. 8916, Ninety-third Congress, First Session, Volume 24". United States Congress. 1973. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  5. ^ "President Kufuor mourns Justice Afreh". Ghana Web. 19 March 2004. Retrieved 31 January 2020.