Joe Ghartey born 15 June 1961, in Accra is a Ghanaian lawyer, academic, and politician. He is the current Railways and Development minister. He was appointed by President Nana Akuffo Addo on 11th January 2017. Joe Ghartey hails from Shama, in the Western Region of the Republic of Ghana.

He started his early education at the Ridge Church School in Accra and later attended, Mfantsipim Senior High School, in Cape Coast. It was during his time at Mfantsipim School that his leadership qualities began to show.

He was appointed House Prefect of Pickard-Parker House in his senior year and he used his good offices to champion the development of sports and student participation in sports programmes at Mfantsipim.

After Mfantsipim, Ghartey enrolled to study law and obtained his LLB (Hons) degree in 1986 from the University of Ghana and BL from the Ghana School of Law in 1988, qualifying to be called to the Bar of Ghana in that same year.

Ghartey undertook his National Service duty as Legal Officer to the Komenda Eguafo Abirem District Assembly in the Central Region of the Republic of Ghana. He also took up a job as an Associate at the Chambers of Lawyer Gwira in Sekondi.

Later, he joined the firm of Akufo-Addo, Prempeh & Co., a leading law firm in Ghana, which was co-founded by his colleague parliamentarian and Cabinet Minister in the John Agyekum Kuffour administration, Nana Akuffo-Addo. Ghartey left this firm after seven years and in 1994 co-founded the law firm, Ghartey & Ghartey with his wife Efua Ghartey, who is a respected lawyer.

He is currently the Senior Partner at Ghartey & Ghartey, a well-respected firm of barristers & Sand solicitors located at Labone in Accra. He has provided legal services to several corporate entities and professional bodies, both nationally and internationally, ranging from the field of Taxation through to Labour Law, Environmental and Company Law.

He is an authority in Corporate and Investment law. He has additionally supported many Human Rights causes in Ghana.

As a co-founder of the Ghana Committee on Human and Peoples Rights, Hon. Ghartey has provided extensive education on Human Rights, Civil Rights, and Obligations to various citizen groups. The Committee was consequently given observer status at the African Commission Human People’s Rights.

He also served as Chair of the Inter African Network of Human Rights Organizations based in Zambia.

He was part of the team that wrote the "Stolen Verdict", in 1993, which was a detailed account of the widespread electoral malpractices that occurred during the 1992 general election. He chaired the Session of the National Conference which amended the constitution of the NPP at the Trade Fair Center in Accra on 22 August 2009.

This was when the Electoral College for the election of the presidential candidate was expanded from a few thousand delegates to more than one hundred thousand delegates.

He was also a member of the team of legal experts appointed by the National Council of the N.P.P to review the conduct of the election petition that was filed in the Supreme Court after the 2012 general elections and to provide recommendations going forward.

The Committee submitted its report to the National Council. The report included proposals for reform of the electoral process in Ghana. All along the coastal belt of Ghana, Ghartey has supported many constituencies in the Western, Central, Greater Accra and Volta Regions, including Shama, Sekondi Takoradi, Effie Kwasimintsim, Tarkwa, Prestea, Amenfi, Korle Klottey, La-Dade Kotopon and Hohoe.

In 2000,he was a pillar in the Western Regional Presidential Campaign Team of the NPP, travelling the length and breadth of the region with the then-candidate John Agyekum Kuffour, who went on to win the general elections in December that year.

Ghartey is currently the NPP Member of Parliament for Essikado/Ketan Constituency in the Western Region of the Republic of Ghana. He was first elected to the seat in the December 2004 elections and was re-elected in both December 2008 and December 2012 elections.

In all three elections he was not contested in the primaries of the NPP to choose the parliamentary candidate for the Constituency. During the administration of President John Agyekum Kufuor, Ghartey was appointed Deputy Attorney General and Deputy Minister of Justice in March 2005.

He was soon promoted and appointed the substantive Attorney-General and Minister of Justice in June 2006, a position he held until January 2009 following the electoral loss of the NPP in the 2008 general elections.

Ghartey was the longest-serving Attorney-General and Minister of Justice under the Kufuor administration. Joe Ghartey was sworn into office by President Kuffuor on 16 June 2006 as the 20th Attorney-General and Minister of Justice of the Republic of Ghana.

His appointment was a testament to his hard work, brilliance, achievements, and honorable service to the government and people of Ghana. He was another laudable addition to a long line of such distinguished former Ghanaian Attorneys-General as Victor Owusu (1966-1969), and Nana Akuffo-Addo (2001–2003).

As Attorney-General, Ghartey launched an Agenda for Change in the Ministry of Justice. The main aim was to radically improve the effectiveness of the office and impact significantly on all aspects of justice delivery in Ghana.

Its flagship program was Justice for All which, among other things, aimed at providing access to the courts for people who had been remanded for long periods without prosecution. This program saw the release of hundreds of incarcerated persons from custody who had not been prosecuted or convicted but were being held by the State.

He was known for personally leading his legal teams to court on several high-profile cases. His special interest in Investment Law was evident in the development of the legal framework and infrastructure for the Oil and Gas Industry in Ghana.

As a member of the Mines and Energy Committee of Parliament,he was instrumental in the decision to establish the Petroleum Commission of Ghana. As a Cabinet Minister, he represented the President at several international fora on legal and investment matters and served the Government and People of Ghana with much admiration.

After the 2012 general elections, Hon. Ghartey was nominated by the NPP minority in parliament to the position of Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament in the 6th Parliament of the 4th Republic. The position of the 2nd Deputy Speaker of Parliament by the president goes to a minority Party in Parliament.

However, following the NPP's challenge of the validity of the election of John Dramani Mahama as President of Ghana and their subsequent boycott of his inauguration, some members of the majority NDC were of the view that "the NPP should not be rewarded with the position since it had decided to boycott the inauguration of John Mahama of the NDC as President in the same election it is challenging."

The NDC, citing precedent by the NPP, who in the past had chosen to vote for Malik Alhassan Yakubu(an NPP candidate)against the NDC's Ken Dzirasah, wanted to sponsor a PNC newcomer to the position instead. However, Joe Ghartey was eventually unanimously elected to the position by Members of Parliament on 7 January 2013.

Since assuming office, he has championed the formulation of rules to guard against conflict of interest among Ghana's legislators. Until his rise to the position of 2nd Deputy Speaker of Parliament, he was the Ranking Member of the Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee, member of the Government Assurances Committee, and a member of the Mines and Energy Committee.

He currently chairs the Committee of Members Holding Offices of Profit. As well as,a member of the Constitutional, Legal, and Parliamentary Committee and the Standing Orders Committee.

He was also appointed a Consultant to the Parliament of Sierra Leone and drafted a Code of Conduct for that Parliament. In May, 2017, President Nana Akufo-Addo named Joe Ghartey as part of nineteen ministers who would form his cabinet.

The names of the 19 ministers were submitted to the Parliament of Ghana and announced by the Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Prof Mike Ocquaye.

www.ghanaweb.com