Charles Bawaduah

Charles Bawaduah is a Ghanaian lawyer and labour policy professional born on 5 May 1975 in Bongo-Beo in the Upper East Region, who serves as the Member of Parliament for the Bongo constituency. A member of the National Democratic Congress who won the seat in the 2024 general election with one of the highest individual vote shares in the Upper East Region, he brings legal expertise and experience as Executive Secretary of the National Labour Commission to a constituency in one of Ghana's least economically developed areas.

Education and professional career

Bawaduah was born in the constituency he now represents, giving him a rooted personal connection to Bongo communities and the social and economic challenges facing families in the Upper East Region. He pursued legal education and qualified as a lawyer, building a professional career in both private legal practice and public sector roles. His most significant professional appointment was as Executive Secretary of the National Labour Commission, a statutory body responsible for the resolution of industrial disputes and the administration of labour law in Ghana. The role placed him at the interface of employment law, employer-employee relations and the regulatory framework governing Ghana's labour market, experience that gives his parliamentary work a policy grounding relevant to the employment and livelihoods agenda of his constituency.

Path to Parliament

Bawaduah's parliamentary ambition was not easily realised. He contested the NDC's parliamentary primaries for Bongo in 2011 and again in 2015, losing both attempts. In 2023, on his third attempt at the nomination, he defeated the incumbent Member of Parliament Edward Abambire Bawa to become the NDC's parliamentary candidate for Bongo. He went on to win the December 2024 general election with 30,114 votes, representing 75.96 per cent of the valid votes cast, an overwhelming majority in a constituency where the NDC's dominance is consistent with the broader Upper East Region pattern. The NDC swept all fifteen Upper East Region seats in 2024, and Bawaduah's margin was among the largest in that regional clean sweep. He assumed office on 7 January 2025.

Parliamentary work

He serves on the Sanitation and Water Resources Committee and as Vice Chairperson of the Private Member's Bill and Private Member's Motion Committee, as well as on the Special Committee for Winnowing, assignments that extend his parliamentary responsibilities across infrastructure oversight and the legislative drafting process.

Political Legacy

Charles Bawaduah's persistence through three primary campaigns before winning the Bongo nomination, and his subsequent dominant election victory, reflect the determination and local credibility that competitive NDC internal politics in the Upper East Region demands. His legal and labour policy background gives his parliamentary advocacy a professional grounding well matched to his constituency's needs.