A Portrait of Grace in Service: Joyce Bawah Mogtari
Photograph of Joyce Bawah Mogtari by D. K. T. Djokoto & Co
By V. L. K. Djokoto
From the Ka xoxowo Salon
In the grand theatre of Ghanaian public life, where rhetoric often overshadows substance and posturing displaces principle, one encounters rather infrequently those rare individuals who embody what the British might call "quiet competence"—that peculiarly valuable combination of intellectual rigour, moral courage, and unwavering dedication to the public good. Mrs Joyce Bawah Mogtari, Presidential Advisor and Special Aide to His Excellency President John Dramani Mahama, stands as precisely such an exemplar.
To properly comprehend the significance of Madam Mogtari's contributions to Ghana's governance architecture, one must first appreciate the depth and breadth of her intellectual formation. A product of Wesley Girls' Senior High School and the University of London's Holborn College, where she obtained her Bachelor of Laws degree in 1997, she proceeded to distinguish herself at the International Maritime Law Institute in Malta, earning a Master's degree in Maritime Law whilst receiving the IMO Legal Committee Chairman's Award for Best Overall Performance—a distinction that speaks volumes about her scholarly excellence.
Called to the bar in 2000, she holds the rather uncommon distinction of being qualified to practise in Ghana, England, and Wales—a testament to her intellectual versatility and professional rigour. Her credentials are further enhanced by certification from the Chartered Institute of Logistics, rendering her one of the most comprehensively trained legal minds in matters of transport, maritime affairs, and international commerce.
Yet it is not merely in the accumulation of academic honours that Mrs Mogtari's distinction lies, but rather in how she has deployed this formidable intellectual arsenal in service of the Ghanaian people. As former Deputy Minister of Transport and Head of the Ghana Shippers' Authority from 2007 to 2013, she brought to bear a rare combination of technical expertise and strategic vision. Her tenure demonstrated that public service, when conducted with integrity and competence, can indeed transform institutional culture and deliver tangible benefits to citizenry.
Photograph of Joyce Bawah Mogtari by D. K. T. Djokoto & Co
In her current capacity as Senior Managing Partner at Praetorium Solicitors—a boutique legal establishment of considerable repute—Mrs Mogtari has maintained her commitment to excellence in the legal profession whilst simultaneously serving as one of President Mahama's most trusted advisers. This dual commitment speaks to an extraordinary capacity for disciplined work and intellectual productivity that would do credit to any professional in any jurisdiction.
What most profoundly distinguishes Mrs Mogtari from the common run of political operatives, however, is her unshakeable commitment to principles over expedience. Throughout the most recent electoral cycle and into the current administration, she has demonstrated a remarkable willingness to speak truth to power, to defend the vulnerable, and to articulate positions that reflect genuine conviction rather than political calculation. When the Majority Leader in Parliament made disparaging remarks about Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, describing the distinguished academic as "old cargo," it was Mrs Mogtari who stood forthrightly in defence of dignity and decorum, declaring such utterances "outrightly disappointing, unacceptable, and disrespectful."
This willingness to confront inappropriate behaviour, regardless of the political cost, reveals a character forged in the crucible of genuine principle. In an era where political discourse has been debased by vulgarity and ad hominem attacks, Mrs Mogtari's insistence upon maintaining standards of civility and respect constitutes nothing less than a defence of democratic culture itself.
Her advocacy extends far beyond the rarified precincts of high politics. Through the Rosa Foundation-Africa, Mrs Mogtari has demonstrated a profound commitment to practical philanthropy. In 2023, the foundation provided 622 first-year pupils at Tamale Girls Senior High School with a five-month supply of sanitary pads—addressing with characteristic directness one of the most persistent yet least discussed barriers to female educational attainment. In 2022, she donated 120 metallic mono desks worth GH¢12,000 to Ganaa Memorial Junior High School in Jirapa. During her birthday celebrations in 2024, rather than indulging in the ostentatious displays so common among the politically connected, she chose to donate food items and toiletries to the Osu Children's Home.
These actions reveal something essential about Mrs Mogtari's character: a recognition that privilege entails obligation, that those who have been blessed with opportunity bear a corresponding responsibility to uplift those who have not. This is noblesse oblige in its truest and most admirable form—not patronising charity, but rather genuine solidarity with the vulnerable and marginalised.
Most recently, she has accepted the role of Patron for the Young Female Entrepreneurs Programme, an initiative of the Ghana Chamber of Young Entrepreneurs designed to empower young women with business training, mentorship, access to finance, and policy advocacy support. In her acceptance remarks, she articulated a vision both pragmatic and inspiring: "Empowering young women to lead businesses is one of the most effective ways to build resilient economies."
A photograph of Joyce Bawah Mogtari and V. L. K. Djokoto, Editor-In-Chief, Accra Evening News
In her capacity as Presidential Advisor, Mrs Mogtari has been instrumental in articulating and defending several of the current administration's most significant policy initiatives. She has championed the establishment of specialised courts to prosecute financial and environmental offences, describing this as "a long overdue step toward strengthening public accountability." She has advocated vigorously for the revival of Ghana's national airline, arguing with characteristic lucidity that "this is not about nostalgia or symbolism alone—this is about creating jobs, opening up Ghana to the world, and asserting our leadership in West African aviation."
Her defence of diplomatic engagement with Burkina Faso's military leader Ibrahim Traoré during President Mahama's inauguration demonstrated sophisticated understanding of regional dynamics. Whilst acknowledging legitimate concerns about democratic backsliding in the Sahel, she articulated a nuanced position: that principled engagement, rather than isolation, might yet encourage a return to democratic governance. "If there is anybody who can get him to actually rescind his decision to continue being a military leader, Ghana has its own history," she observed with characteristic diplomatic subtlety.
What emerges from even this abbreviated account of Mrs Mogtari's career is a portrait of a woman of exceptional capability who has consistently chosen service over self-aggrandisement, principle over expedience, and substance over spectacle. In an age of diminished expectations and debased political culture, she represents something increasingly rare: a public servant in the truest and noblest sense of that term.
She is, moreover, a devoted wife to Hudu Mogtari, former Chief Executive Officer of the Food and Drugs Authority and current Board Chairman of the Ghana Standards Authority, and a mother to four children. That she has managed to excel in multiple spheres simultaneously—as legal practitioner, policy advisor, philanthropist, and family woman—speaks to an extraordinary capacity for disciplined productivity and purposeful living.
From the galleries of Ka xoxowo, where we concern ourselves with cultivating and celebrating excellence in all its forms, we salute Mrs Joyce Bawah Mogtari. In an era where cynicism about public service has become fashionable, she reminds us that integrity, competence, and genuine commitment to the public good remain not merely possible but essential. Her life and work constitute a standing rebuke to mediocrity and a luminous example of what dedicated service, guided by principle and animated by compassion, can accomplish.
May her example inspire a new generation of Ghanaians to understand that true distinction lies not in the accumulation of titles or the pursuit of personal advantage, but in the faithful discharge of one's duties to nation and neighbour. In celebrating Joyce Bawah Mogtari, we celebrate the best of what Ghana can be—and, indeed, what Ghana must be if we are to realise our national potential.
Photograph of Joyce Bawah Mogtari by D. K. T. Djokoto & Co