Mrs. Betty Mould-Iddrisu was born on 22nd March 1953. She attended Achimota, Ghana International, and Accra Academy Schools in Accra. She went to the University of Ghana for her Bachelor’s in Law Degree (LLB) and obtained her Master’s degree in Law (LLM) from the London School of Economics & Political Science in London, UK, in 1978. She was called to the Ghanaian Bar in 1979.
In the early 1980s, she became an active member of the Ghana branch of the International Federation of Lawyers (FIDA), where she held some executive positions. She rose through the ranks of the FIDA-Ghana Executive to chair both FIDA-Ghana (1994–96) and the FIDA-Africa group (1996–98). She assisted in the establishment of Ghana’s first Legal Aid Centre, comprising a legal aid clinic and a legal literacy centre in 1986 and co-founded the African Women Lawyers Association (AWLA) in 1999.
She has been at the forefront of using the law as a tool for change in the status of African women. She was a member of Ghana’s Domestic Violence Coalition that pushed for the passage of Ghana’s Domestic Violence Law. She joined the Attorney-General’s Department at Ghana’s Ministry of Justice in January 1980 as an Assistant State Attorney, posted to the Registrar General’s Department. She rose through the ranks to the position of Chief State Attorney and headed the International Law Division at the Ministry of Justice.
Mrs. Betty Mould-Iddrisu was appointed Copyright Administrator of Ghana in 1989. She became an acknowledged global expert in Intellectual Property Law throughout her career, representing Ghana and Africa as a speaker, expert, resource person, chair and consultant to the UN’s World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and other multilateral agencies. She pioneered the teaching of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) at the University of Ghana’s Faculty of Law as a final-year elective and taught Intellectual Property Rights herself between 1980 and 1990. She was appointed as the Director of the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Division of the UK-based Commonwealth Secretariat in 2003.
Mrs. Betty Mould-Iddrisu became the first female Attorney-General and Minister of Justice in Ghana in 2009. During her time in office, she initiated reforms by streamlining the work at the Ministry, building the capacity of state attorneys at both national and international levels, and expanding and strengthening capacity in the regional offices and the Prosecutions Division.
She also championed the expansion of legal education in Ghana by assisting in establishing more law schools in the country. She was appointed as the Minister of Education from 2011 to 2012 and is currently a distinguished member of the 9th Council of State of the Republic of Ghana.
She has received multiple awards in Ghana and Africa from a plethora of political, legal, civil society, religious and youth organisations. This is a testament to the fact that she not only influences the legal space but also goes beyond it, having influenced and empowered African youth over the decades.
