“Given the hallmark of your legal career, summed up by the words integrity, excellence and service which testify to your character, your competence and dedication, I have no doubt you will witness to Him (God) in the discharge of your mandate. The Lord is with you. Stay true to God, your country and Africa is waiting.”
Those were the words of Justice Emeritus David Maraga, the 14th Chief Justice of Kenya, contained in a letter dated 25th October 2024, addressed to Justice Dorinda Smith Arthur on her appointment as a High Court judge.
Her Ladyship Justice Dorinda Smith Arthur will go into the history books of the Judicial Service as having expeditiously adjudicated one of the controversial but landmark spousal cases involving legendary highlife musician Charles Kwadwo Fosuh, known in showbiz circles as Daddy Lumba, with speed and alacrity.
Justice Smith Arthur has already endeared herself to patrons of her court, earning the praise of counsels for applicants and defendants, legal practitioners, and journalists covering the case at High Court 5 in Kumasi.
She has, in a record one month, adjudicated a case which, under normal circumstances, should have lasted a minimum of three years in a country where such cases often suffer many adjournments.
Her judgment, which she says was to resolve the dispute, was also intended to educate Ghanaians on marriages and their possible dissolution.
Akosua Serwaa Fosuh sought an order of the court to make her the only surviving wife of the late Charles Kwadwo Fosuh, sole candidate to perform the widowhood rite, and also an order to restrain the 2nd defendant in the case, Priscilla Ofori, also known as Odo Broni, from identifying herself as wife of the late musician.
The suit comes after the death of the celebrated musician, born Charles Kwadwo Fosuh, on July 26, 2025, in Accra.
Myjoyonline.com has been looking at the background of the presiding judge, who received wild applause in open court for how she expeditiously and fairly heard the case, despite all the tensions and acrimony arising between litigants, arguments and counter-arguments, and the banters of counsels for both applicant and defendants.
Her Ladyship is jovial, with a face that always beams with smiles, but she is very firm, ensuring that the rules are applied to the letter.
She was called to the Bench in July 2013, first as a District Court Magistrate, then as a Circuit Court Judge on January 10, 2019, by then Chief Justice, Her Ladyship Justice Sophia Abena Boafowaa Akuffo.
Justice Smith Arthur was in charge of specialized gender-based cases, narcotics, and mining cases, among others, while adjudicating civil and other criminal cases, having worked in the Central, Greater Accra, and Ashanti Regions.
She was sworn in as Justice of the High Court on September 30, 2024, by then President Nana Akufo-Addo.
The mother of four enjoys cooking, reading, music, teaching, and mentoring her children.
The certified marriage counselor and life coach had her basic education at the South Suntreso Adventist Preparatory School. In fact, she is a Suntreso girl.
She had her legal training in Ghana, the US, and Zambia, having obtained her Bachelor of Arts (Law and English) and Bachelor of Law degrees from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, and a Practicing Law Certificate from the Ghana School of Law, University of Ghana.
She has a Master of Laws from the University of Ghana Law School, focusing on Alternative Dispute Resolution; a Master of Laws from the University of Reading School of Law, focusing on Global Crisis, Conflict and Disaster Management; and a Master of Laws degree from Northeastern University School of Law, Boston, USA.
Her Ladyship Justice Dorinda Smith Arthur recently added a PhD in Criminology and Human Rights from the African Research University, Lusaka, Zambia, at the 13th graduation ceremony of the school.
She featured prominently on the university’s social media handles, especially on Facebook, having received special mention.
As the first female High Court Judge of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, she is also a member of several professional bodies and associations, including the Association of Magistrates and Judges, Ghana; Commonwealth Association of Magistrates and Judges; International Association of Women Judges; and the American Society of International Law.
Affectionately called “DD,” Justice Smith Arthur is often regarded as a woman with impeccable character and hard to influence.
A former Municipal Chief Executive for Komenda Edina Eguafo Abrem sums it up about Her Ladyship Justice Dorinda Smith Arthur:
“She is too much devoted to her work at the expense of her own self. Sometimes I will say DD, go and rest because when you are not there, Ghana will still move on, and she will say I have to do what I have to do for the betterment of Ghana.
“She is a woman with impeccable character,” he added.
Recounting an encounter, Mr Appiah, a lawyer by profession, said he received the “shock of his life” when he appeared before Justice Dorinda Smith Arthur.
“One day, I had to appear before her. When I appeared before her, I had my nice suit, thinking that I was going to get bail. That time I had a shock in my life. The bail was refused. She said you have to come back next week well prepared, and we will see what will happen,” he recalled.
He added, “That is the kind of woman that she is. She doesn’t mix social life with professional life.”
Mr Appiah was speaking at a thanksgiving service organized in honour of Her Ladyship Justice Dorinda Smith Arthur by the Seventh-Day Adventist Church at Cape Coast, following her appointment as High Court judge.
So how does Justice Smith Arthur, whose life hinges on the virtues of integrity, fairness and equality before the law, see herself?
“As a judge, I owe a duty to the state to do justice to all manner of persons who appear before me regardless of their age, of their religion, their social standing and their political affiliation.
“Consequently, my life as a judge is more reserved because I am ethically encouraged not to socialize much due to conflict of interest issues and also due to the demand to be seen to be independent.
“So you see, even the way I walk, I walk reservedly. My judicial duty takes precedence over all other activities,” she said when she spoke on the topic “The Mindset of Integrity” at Uplift 2022 in Accra.
According to her, she does not allow people, not even pastors, to see her, let alone influence her.
This has been the status quo, a principle she has also taught her court staff.
“Personally, I do not allow anybody to see me. When I say anybody, I mean exactly so — including pastors and all.
“I refuse gifts of all forms, tokens or thanksgiving; I do refuse. In fact, it doesn’t even get to me,” she emphasised.
Testifying to Justice Arthur’s uprightness, President of the Ananse Centre for Leadership and Development, Samuel Koranteng-Pipim, described her as a woman of character.
“She is a woman of character. What she says, she does, and she’s well known,” he stated.
Ananse Centre for Leadership and Development is an organisation committed to raising a new generation of Africans who will make a difference in the world.
Her Ladyship Justice Dorinda Smith Arthur is the Vice President of the organisation.
Alberta Kpeleku, a Peace and Conflict expert and Executive Director for 360 Human Rights, a non-governmental organisation, describes Justice Dorinda Smith Arthur as a good mother who makes complex situations look normal.
“She makes complex things very simple. I admire her work; she is disciplined. She is a good mother as well,” he said.
Justice Dorinda Arthur is an author who has written extensively on integrity. Among her books are “The Pursuit of Integrity and Excellence: A Little Word to Law Students & Practitioners” and “The Kiss of Integrity—My God and My Judicial Philosophy,” a book inspired by her inaugural address to a group of Adventist Youth & Young Professionals on October 12, 2024.
She has also written and contributed to international journals such as JBDL Journal for Business, Development, and Leadership and SSRN, on topics such as juvenile justice in Ghana, illegal small-scale mining, and its devastating effects on the rights of indigenous people to clean, unpolluted water.
‘The law does not wait for perfect conditions’
