KWAME GYAN

Kwame Gyan was born on June 15, 1963 at Akyem Akrofufu in the Eastern Region of Ghana. He attended Donkorkrom Agricultural Secondary School for his GCE Ordinary Level and Apam Secondary School for his GCE Advanced Level. He proceeded to the University of Ghana, Legon where he obtained a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) with a Second Class Honours, Upper Division in 1988.

He pursued the Professional Law Course at the Ghana School of Law, where he won the coveted Mensah Sarbah Award for the Best Student in the Professional Law Class 1988-1990. He was called to the Ghana Bar in October 1990. Having served as a Teaching Assistant at the Faculty of Law, University of Ghana for one academic year, he proceeded to Temple University School of Law, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA where he earned a Masters in Law [LL.M.] in General Legal Studies in 1992. He undertook further graduate work at New York University School of Law where he obtained a Master of Laws [LL.M.] in International Legal Studies in 1994. He previously worked in the New York Head Office of the prestigious Ford Foundation as Program Officer for Africa and Middle East Programs from 1994 to 1996.

He later served as Director of International Programs on the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, a world-renowned development organization based in Cambridge, Massachusetts from 1996-1998. He returned to Ghana in December 1998 and took up a teaching appointment at the Faculty of Law, Legon. Among others he teaches courses in Land Law, Natural Resources Law, Environmental Law and Law of Torts. He also has additional teaching responsibility at the Legon Centre for International Affairs, Environmental Science Programme of the Faculty of Science and the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College. From April 2003 to March 2011, he served as Legal Adviser to Ghana’s Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources.

He currently serves as External Legal Consultant to Newmont Ghana Gold Limited; Chairman of Atiwa Quarries Limited and Board member of Zoomlion Ghana Limited and Great Consolidated Diamonds Limited. He led the team of lawyers engaged under the World Bank-supported Ghana Land Administration Project (LAP) to review the legal-regulatory framework for the land sector and to draft new legislation for establishment of a new Lands Commission and the drafting of the new Lands Bill. He has recently published two books, namely, (1) A Textbook on Customary Land Law of Ghana; (2) Cases and Materials on Customary Land Law of Ghan