Renowned legal practitioner Tsatsu Tsikata has outlined why his early ambition to join the judiciary never materialised, despite initially aspiring to become a judge.
Speaking on PM Express on Joy News, he revealed that his interest in the bench diminished as his professional outlook evolved toward using the law as an instrument for national development, particularly in the management of Ghana’s natural resources.
“I said in my Honorific Award lecture that in that December 1959 UAC interview, I boldly said, I’m going to be a lawyer and subsequently a judge, but the judge part, frankly, I never had much of an interest in that,” he stated.
Explaining the shift, Mr Tsikata pointed to a defining transition in his adult life, during which his conception of legal practice extended beyond adjudication in courts.
“When I became an adult, I think because I moved into a different dimension of the application of law,” he noted.
He indicated that his experience, especially during his tenure at the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, exposed him to a broader national mission—one centred on leveraging legal expertise to support economic transformation through resource management.
“For instance, in relation to natural resources, what I did in GNPC and so on. So I began to see that itself as a kind of a mission, because you’re in a country blessed with natural resources and yet not always having the capabilities, technological, financial and so on, to get those natural resources out of the ground for the benefit of the people,” he explained.
This shift, he said, deepened his engagement with the oil, gas, and extractive sectors, which he came to view as a more impactful avenue for public service.
“So once I started getting more involved in that area—oil and gas, natural resource extraction and so on—it really became my passion also,” he added.
Rather than focusing on resolving individual legal disputes, Mr Tsikata emphasised that he became increasingly motivated to use legal frameworks to advance national development and maximise the benefits of Ghana’s natural resources.
“And so I saw my use of the law, not as just administering justice in individual cases, but more or less enabling the country as a whole to benefit from our God-given resources,” he said.
He concluded that this conviction ultimately led him away from any remaining interest in pursuing a judicial career.
“And so frankly, I lost that track a long time ago.”
