06/07/2025
The Man Behind the Name: Lawyer Joseph Dindiok Kpemka.
Source: Nash TV
6th July, 2025.
From Classroom Chalk to Courtroom Gavel.
In the heart of the Upper East Region, in the quiet village of Kpikpira-Tempane, a boy named Joseph Dindiok Kpemka was born on August 13, 1973. His early years were marked not by privilege but by purpose. He grew up like many rural children in northern Ghana walking long distances to school, learning under trees, and studying with kerosene lamps. But even in those humble beginnings, there was a spark an uncommon curiosity, a hunger for knowledge, and an unshakable belief that his life could be different.
From Village School to the Nation’s Capital.
Joseph began his formal education at Kpikpira Primary School, where his academic excellence quickly stood out. He later moved on to Kpikpira Middle School, where he laid a solid foundation for his secondary education with an academic record yet to be broken. He excelled not just academically but also in leadership, the quiet type who let his actions speak louder than words.
His academic journey then took him to Bawku Secondary School (BAWSEC), one of the prominent institutions in the Upper East Region, where he studied General Arts. It was here that Joseph's love for language, civic studies, and governance began to shape his career dreams not just to be successful but to be useful.
After secondary school, Joseph gained admission to the University of Ghana, Legon, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree. With his sights set higher, he proceeded to the Ghana School of Law, where he obtained his LLB and was called to the bar becoming a fully qualified lawyer with a dream to bring justice closer to the voiceless.
Before politics and courtrooms, there was chalk and a blackboard. From 2002 to 2005, Joseph served as an English teacher under the Ghana Education Service where he taught at many schools including Tempane Secondary School, Bolgatanga Girls' Secondary School etc, inspiring hundreds of students not just with grammar rules but with life lessons in discipline, service, and ambition.
He taught not just how to write but also how to dream and inspire others' dreams.
In 2008, at just 35 years old, he was appointed District Chief Executive (DCE) for Garu-Tempane District (the youngest DCE in the historyofUpperEastRegion). It was an unusual rise for a young man from rural roots, but those who knew him weren’t surprised he had always worked harder than most, listened more than he spoke, and stood firmly by his convictions.
After his DCE role, Joseph took on a new mission shaping future lawyers and leaders. From 2009 to 2016, he became a snr lecturer at the Bolgatanga Technical University, where he mentored students in constitutional law, legal ethics, and civic duty. While at BTU , he held the administrative role of the New Patriotic Party in the region (Upper East NPP Regional Secretary).
His classroom became a platform not just for academic learning but for national consciousness.
In 2016, Joseph Dindiok Kpemka took a bold step into electoral politics after having served all the political ranks in the local government's setting, contesting as Member of Parliament for Tempane on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party (NPP). Against the odds, and in an NDC stronghold, he won with 13,363 votes (45.4%), making history the first NPP MP for the area.
He didn’t go to Parliament to warm a seat. In 2017, he was appointed Deputy Attorney-General and Deputy Minister for Justice. In that role, he helped shape legal reforms, represented the government in sensitive national matters, and carried the weight of legal responsibility with dignity and clarity, including the establishment of the Office of the Special Prosecutor.
After his first electoral defeat in life against the ndc's candidate in 2020, he resumed full duty at his private law firm located in Accra. One of the leading legal hubs in Ghana's solicitors space .
In August 2023, Joseph did something most politicians wouldn’t dare he rode a bicycle 7 kilometres from his home to the NPP constituency office to file
his nomination forms. It wasn’t a stunt. It was a message: "I’m still one of you."
To the ordinary farmer, the market woman, the shoeless school child, it was a reminder that leadership is about humility, not hubris.
In May 2024, President Akufo-Addo appointed him as the Deputy Managing Director of the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company (BOST).
Once again, Kpemka is combining legal intellect with executive leadership. Managing critical national energy infrastructure proving that service to country comes in many forms, not just parliamentary ones.
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