Ghanaian Solicitor is first female Chairperson of UK Law Society

A Ghanaian-born Solicitor has made history in the United Kingdom (UK), as the first elected female African British Executive Committee Chairperson of the Solicitor Sole Practitioners Group (SPG) of the Law Society of England and Wales.

Mrs Olawunmi Biriyok nee Shonowo, Principal Solicitor of UK-based Biriyok Show Solicitors, was elected on May 16 at the 15th Annual Conference of the SPG in Ascot UK.

A statement issued by the Council for Afrika International, a UK-based think-tank and copied to the Ghana News Agency, said Mrs Biriyok holds a BSc Degree in International Studies and an LLB Hons and qualified as a solicitor in 1995.

The SPG, a constituency of the Law Society, which represents more than 4,000 sole
Solicitor practitioners in England and Wales in the UK.

Mrs Olawunmi Biriyok said: "My appointment as Chairman of SPG did come as a surprise to me regardless of the confidence that my committee members had in me."

"I thank my learned friends within the SPG for their confidence and promise not to let them down. My long-held ambition to meet the legal needs of clients from all walks of life who are in need of a solicitor's specialist skills explains why I have always believed in the importance of creating a relaxed forum for easy reliance on my professional services."

Dr Lawrence Tetteh, a Ghanaian International Evangelist and a researcher at the prestigious University of London's London School of Economics, who said Mrs Biriyok is his solicitor, congratulated her for her new office and expressed the wish that her stewardship will set high standards and a positive role model for up and coming women to aspire to.

Dr Koku Adomdza, Secretary General of the Council for Afrika International also wished Mrs Olawunmi Biriyok well and expressed the hope that similar institutions would follow the shining example.

Charlton Legal Practice, a Barristers Firm remarked that "Given the historical relationship between Britain and Anglophone Africa and the commonalities between their judicial systems, the election of an African to the chairpersonship of legal institutions including the SPG is long overdue.

However, better late than never, and there is still a long sojourn to achieve meaningful equality in the British legal profession for lawyers of African ancestry in the UK.

Mrs Biriyok, who is a British citizen, was born in Ghana to the late multi-millionaire entrepreneur Chief Taiye Shonowo, popularly known as 'Olla Balm' after his very successful trademark product.

The Council for Afrika International is an independent body dedicated to fight discrimination, injustice and all forms of cruelty including hatred directed at persons of African ancestry.