The University of Ghana has held its maiden virtual congregation for students from the School of Law and the Medical School.

The University arranged to hold virtual congregation ceremonies for these students because of the partial closure of schools and the risks of congregational activities because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Below is the profile of the valedictorian Ms. Amanda Nutakor, who graduated with a Final Grade Point Average of 3.84. She becomes the first student from the Law School to have achieved this feat.

Profile of Amanda Nutakor

After completing her Basic and Junior High School education in Ukraine, Amanda Nutakor attended The Masters Senior High School at North Legon

in Accra, where she was adjudged as the best General Arts student of her year group.

In 2016, Amanda gained admission to the University of Ghana’s School of Law to pursue a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) degree and is graduating top of her class with the Final Grade Point Average of 3.84.

As a result of excellent grades obtained in the first year, she was recognized as one of the top four students to benefit from the annual merit-based Lebanese Community Scholarship which covered tuition and part
of accommodation fees at Legon.

Due to her passion for mooting and advocacy, Amanda took the role as a member of the organizing team of the 2018 African Human Rights Moot Court Competition held in Accra.

Additionally, in her capacity as a member of the School of Law Moot and Advocacy Society, she contributed immensely to the successful organization of the maiden Inter-firm Moot Court Competition which was held in March 2019.

As an avid reader and writer, Amanda contributed several legal articles on the School of Law website legallyspeakin.com, to eventually become the head of the Blog and Website Committee. Under her leadership, the committee formed the first-ever Blogging and Writing Club dedicated to improving the writing skills of law students through training, workshops, and informal club meetings.

To put legal knowledge into practice, she took advantage of internship opportunities offered by Ntrakwah & Co. Legal Practitioners and Consultants, and the African Centre of International Criminal Justice (ACICJ), which granted her the opportunity to improve on her research and writing skills.

Amanda also has a keen interest in volunteering. As a student, she volunteered as a peer partner to international students through the International Programmes Office at the University of Ghana. She also worked with the Legal Resources Centre, a non-governmental organization in Accra, where she drafted development proposals concerning prisoners’
rights and participated in mentoring members of rural communities on human rights issues.

In Rwanda, with the international youth-run organization, AIESEC, she worked on a UN Sustainable Development Goal 8 project, focused on devising policies to promote sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products in Rwanda.

The skills gained from those experiences stood her in good stead to be selected as one of the eight participants of the Making Rights Real: The Ghana Project Clinic, a student exchange program, focused on girls’ rights to education, between the University of Ghana’s School of Law and Harvard Law School, USA.

To build on her zest for the protection and promotion of human rights, Amanda plans to further her journey in the legal field through an LLM in Human Rights, and pursue an academic career. She also intends to further her interest in commerce and marketing by setting up her own company and clothing brand.