Joseph Osei-Owusu

Joseph Osei-Owusu is a lawyer from Bekwai who spent eight years in the second-highest chair in Ghana's Parliament, serving as First Deputy Speaker in both the Seventh and Eighth Parliaments. He represented Bekwai in the Ashanti Region for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) from 2009 to 2025.

Bekwai boy, Legon lawyer

Born in Bekwai on 22 January 1962, Osei-Owusu went to Juaben Secondary School and Wenchi Secondary School before reading classics and law at the University of Ghana. He was called to the Bar in 1990, practised at Yaw Barimah and Co and at George Sarpong Legal Services, where he became assistant head of chambers, and later earned an executive master's in governance from GIMPA.

DVLA chief

Under President Kufuor he was appointed chief executive of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority, his first major public role.

In the Speaker's chair

He entered Parliament in 2009 and in 2017 was elected First Deputy Speaker, a post he kept after the 2021 swearing-in. The Eighth Parliament, with an almost evenly split House, made presiding one of the hardest jobs in Ghanaian politics, and Osei-Owusu was often at the centre of procedural fights. He also chaired the Appointments and Privileges committees.

Ralph Poku-Adusei took over Bekwai for the NPP in 2025.