The NDC Member of Parliament for MADINA Constituency, Hon. Francis-Xavier Kojo Sosu, (Esq) has been approved to be awarded a life-time achievement recognition by a conferment of the Presidential Service Award in the USA.
This follows his voluntary service in Ghana and across a number of States in the USA. Hon. Sosu has been known to be a lawyer, author, and human rights activist.
In January 2024, he was a visiting lecturer at the Center Collage, in Danville, Kentucky, and the University of South in Sewnee, Tennessee. Hon. Sosu volunteered his time and experience to lecture on advancing a free and just society using his life as a lawyer, legislator and activist as an example. He advocated for abolition of death penalty in the US using the Ghana model of abolition of death penalty through statutory amendments.
Also in April, 2024 Hon. Sosu was a visiting lecturer at the the Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, Atlanta Georgia where he taught students a lesson in Capstone course in Practical Theology. He discussed his life, work and ministry and how to translate Christian ministry into social justice advocacy.
Hon. Sosu has been a delegate to the Youth for Human Rights Africa at the UN in New York, featured on Fox 13 TV in Tennessee, and spoke at the Durant High School and Oakdale school both in the State of Oklahoma. Hon. Sosu has in the past 10years impacted several children in the USA with his life story of rising from a street child, supported by the churches of Christ mostly from the USA who through the Village of Hope in Ghana reached out to him. He rose from the street to become a lawyer, human rights activist, and now a legislator leading major legislative changes in Ghana, including abolition of death penalty and criminalization of witchcraft accusations.
Indeed, such an impactful life deserves this special recognition.
This prestigious honor is bestowed by the President of the United States for outstanding volunteer service in communities throughout the country.
The Award would be given to Hon. Sosu on November 9, 2024 during the Annual Awards Gala by the Jacobs-Abbey Global Institute of Leadership Studies (JAGILS) in Alexandria, Virginia, USA.
In 2003, the US President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation founded the President’s Volunteer Service Award to recognize the important role of volunteers in America’s strength and national identity.
This award honors individuals whose service positively impacts communities in every corner of the nation, and to inspire those around them to take action, too.
This award is a testimony of the global impact of Hon. Sosu’s works and human rights advocacy.
Profile of Hon. Francis-Xavier Sosu (Esq)
Hon. Francis-Xavier Kojo Sosu (ESQ) is a Legislator, Human Rights Lawyer and Activist, an Author, the immediate past 2nd Vice President of the United Nations Association of Ghana, and currently serves as Patron of the Cancer Project Foundation, Ghana, and Vice Chairman of the Trade and Investment Committee of Africa Bar Association (AfBA).
Hon. Sosu also serves as deputy Ranking Member of the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of the Parliament of the Republic of Ghana.
In 3 years as an MP, Hon. Sosu has introduced seventeen (17) Private Member’s Bills out of which three (3) have been passed, and one (1) received Presidential Assent to abolish Death Penalty in Ghana under the Criminal Offences Amendment Act, and criminalize witchcraft accusations in protection of vulnerable aged women.
His legislative interventions covers maternity leave extension and Paternity leave introduction Bills; Bill to remove taxes on menstrual hygiene products such as sanitary pads; clean air and climate change Bills; and Community Sentencing Bill, among others – a feat which has never before attained in the history of the Republic of Ghana.
Hon. Francis-Xavier Sosu has over 13 years experience as a Human Rights Lawyer and activist, and has earned his place as the foremost Human Rights Lawyer currently in Ghana. He is a member of the Ghana Bar Association, Africa Bar Association, International Association of Peoples’ Lawyers, Lawyers Without Borders, Canada, Criminal Justice Reforms Association, Lawyers In search of Democracy, and the Commonwealth Lawyers Association. He has been a probono lawyer, represented over 800 pretrial detainees, and helped to release many.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree (BA) (Hons) in Sociology and Archaeology, Bachelor of Laws (LLB) (Hons), Master of Laws (LLM) in Oil and Gas Law, Master of Arts (MA) in Economic Policy Management; and MPhil (Human Rights, Peace and Conflict Studies). He is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Ghana Law School with research interests in Regional Integration Laws. His research topic is “Harmonizing Regional Economic Communities to aid the African Continental Free Trade Agreement to achieve African Integration.”
Hon. Sosu also holds a Certificate in International Legislative Drafting from the Tulane Law School, New Orleans, USA; and is a Visiting Scholar at the Center College, Danville, Kentucky, and University of the South in Tennessee, all in the USA.
Hon. Sosu has published Eight (8) Books titled Pro Bono Lawyer without Honour, Love lifted me from the Streets, Guilty Until Proven Innocent, I am the Street Lawyer, Being the Change, Homeless, Understanding the Storms of Life, and Overcoming the Storms of Life. He is currently working on his latest book titled “Woes of my Mother”, as a tribute to his beloved mother.
These books which serve as both memoirs and research-based volumes shed incredible light into his life, legal practice, and deficiencies in the criminal Justice system in Ghana, among others. His books also share amazing stories of how he rose from being a needy and destitute Street child adopted into the Village of Hope Orphanage in Ghana, West Africa.
In 2021, Hon. Sosu was named amongst the 100 Most Influential Change Makers in Ghana. He was also the Recipient of the Timothy Bowles African Human Rights Leadership Award. In 2022, he was adjudged the Distinguished Personality and Humanitarian of the Year; and in 2023, named the most Outstanding Political Personality for the year. In 2024, Hon. Sosu, again, was awarded the Political Personality of the Year; and was conferred the most outstanding member of Parliament across Africa – Human Rights by The Business Executive during the 3rd Edition of the African Public Service Optimum Awards.
