Isaac Kobina Donkor AbbanJSC (1933 – 21 April 2001) was the Chief Justice of Ghana between 1995 and 2001. He was the ninth person to hold this position since Ghana became an independent nation.[1]
Abban was called to the English bar on 24 June 1958. He returned to Ghana in 1959 and entered private practice until he was called to the bench of the High Court in May 1970.[2]
Electoral Commissioner
Justice Abban was called to the Ghanaian bar on 18 April 1959. While a High Court Judge, he was appointed the electoral commissioner and supervised the controversial 'Union Government (UNIGOV)' referendum on 30 March 1978 during the Supreme Military Council (SMC) era. At a point during the referendum, he went into hiding in fear of his life from the military authorities.[3] This was because he opposed the attempts to rig the UNIGOV referendum by the military SMC government.[4] His successor Justice Kinsgley Nyinah supervised the 1979 election that saw Dr Limann win to become president of Ghana.
Justice Abban was due to retire on 1 May 2001, for health reasons.[5] He died a few days before that on 21 April 2001 in Accra, Ghana at the age of 67.[4][6]
^"History of Ghana – Post Independence Ghana". 50th Independence Anniversary Celebration of Ghana. Ghana government. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 13 April 2007. In furtherance of the UNIGOV policy, a referendum was held on 30 March 1978 to ascertain the wishes of Ghanaians on the issue. Halfway through the referendum, the Electoral Commissioner, Mr. Justice Isaac Kobina Abban, a judge of the High Court, had to give up his job, flee into hiding apparently to save his life.