Joseph Whittal

Joseph Akanjolenur Whittal is a lawyer who has headed Ghana's Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) since December 2016, after more than twenty years working inside it.

He studied law at the University of Ghana from 1985 and at the Ghana School of Law, where he won the prize for industrial law, and later took a master's in democracy, governance and human rights at the University of Cape Coast. He did his national service with the Legal Aid Board in Tamale, then worked for the Office of the Revenue Commissioners and as a state attorney at the Attorney-General's department.

He joined CHRAJ in 1994 as its Upper East regional director, ran its legal and investigations department from 2008 and became the deputy commissioner in charge of that work in 2012. President Mahama made him commissioner in December 2016, weeks after losing the election, and the incoming NPP government objected to the timing.