Biography of Justice Prof. Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu to be launched December 8, 2022

The biography is written by journalist, teacher, tourism consultant, and cultural activist, Kofi Akpabli.

Is allowance instantly strangers applauded

A book on the life of Supreme Court judge, Justice Professor Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu is set to be launched on December 8, 2022, at the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), at the University of Ghana. 

Titled ‘JOY, A Biography of Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu’, it treats everything from her life as a young girl, her career, international missions and professional assignments, her family, church, and her role in educational projects such as the National Maths and Science Quiz (NSMQ). 

The biography is written by journalist, teacher, tourism consultant, and cultural activist, Kofi Akpabli. 

He tells Dennislaw News that Justice Prof. Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu feels ‘only JOY’ at this moment of her life, just as the book’s title which is also her name. 

“This book talks about her life up till now, her international assignments. When you read the book, you see how she rises with status. How responsibility increases, how the nation notices her, how West Africa and ECOWAS notice her.”

The launch would also be chaired by Supreme Court judge, Justice Professor Nii Ashie Kotey, a review by lawyer Samson Lardy Anyenini, special comments by Professor Audrey Gadzekpo, among others. 

Justice Professor Henrietta Joy Abena Nyarko Mensa-Bonsu

An alumnus of the University of Ghana and Yale University, Justice Prof. Mensa Bonsu was a law professor at the University of Ghana until her elevation to the Supreme Court in 2020. 

She has served on a number of public boards and councils and served in a number of high-level national and international assignments  - a member of the National Reconciliation Commission of Ghana, the Ghana Police Council, a member of the President's Committee on the Review of Educational Reforms, the AU committee of Eminent Jurists on the Lockerbie Case, African Union (AU) Committee of Eminent Jurists on Hessene Habre Case, International Technical Advisor to Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a member of the Presidential Commission of Enquiry on the Ayawaso West Wougon by-election in Ghana and member of the United Nations Secretary-General High-Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations amongst others. She was Ghana’s nominee to the International Criminal Court in 2017 but failed in her bid.

A high point in her career was her appointment as the Deputy Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Rule of Law (DSRSG) in the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) with the rank of Assistant-Secretary-General in 2007.

Justice Prof. Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu has also published extensively on Criminal Law and Criminal Justice, Family Law, and Children's Rights. She has also been a visiting Lecturer at the Queen's University Belfast, Northwestern University School of Law, and other prestigious universities.