Judge of distinction: Mrs. Sediinam Kwadam tops GIMPA’s 2025 Masters class

Circuit Court Judge Mrs. Sediinam Awo Kwadam has emerged as the valedictorian of the 2025 Masters' graduating class at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), achieving one of the highest academic distinctions in the institution’s history.

Graduating with a near-perfect GPA of 3.98, Mrs. Kwadam received three top honors: Best Graduate Student of GIMPA Law School, the Dean’s Excellence Award for Best LLM Student, and the prestigious Fatou Bensouda Prize for Best Student in International Criminal Law and Justice.

Appointed a magistrate in 2015, she served at the Teshie-Nungua District Court and rose in 2020 to the Adenta Circuit Court. She now presides at one of Accra’s Circuit Courts.

Currently in the Netherlands, she is furthering her international legal exposure through Utrecht University’s International Criminal Law Summer Programme and participating in an academic immersion at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.

Delivering her valedictory address via video during GIMPA’s 25th Congregation, themed “From Heritage to Creative Futures: Inspiring Development through Artistic Education and Enterprise,” Mrs. Kwadam reflected on a journey marked by "immeasurable sacrifice, perseverance, and triumph."

She praised the African Centre of International Criminal Justice (ACICJ) at GIMPA Law School for fostering intellectual growth and providing international pathways that affirmed the institution’s global relevance.

Looking back on the past year, she described it as a period of “intense intellectual challenge and transformation,” marked by rigorous research, critical policy debates, and profound academic reflection.

A respected jurist and reform advocate, Mrs. Kwadam brings over a decade of judicial experience to the bench. She is widely regarded for her fairness, principled judgments, and ongoing advocacy for improved working conditions for Ghana’s lower court judges.

Her secondary education was at Achimota School (Class of 2002), followed by an LLB from KNUST and a call to the Ghana Bar in 2012, where she was named Best Student in the Law of Evidence. Her early practice included roles at Fugar & Company and the Legal Assistance Network of Ghana.

Her LLM research at GIMPA tackled pressing global justice issues—Africa’s engagement with the ICC, U.S. exceptionalism in international criminal law, and the legal implications of the Malabo Protocol.