James Victor Gbeho was the President of the ECOWAS Commission between 2010 and 2012. He is a lawyer and a veteran diplomat of international repute. Born in 1935 in Keta in the Volta region, Gbeho comes from a long line of distinguished Ghanaian nationalists. He is the son of Philip Gbeho, arranger of the national anthem of Ghana.
Gbeho served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs under ex- President Jerry John Rawlings, and also served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Anlo Constituency between 2001 and 2005. After 2008 when the late President Mills won the Presidential Election, Gbeho was made a foreign policy advisor to the government. He has served in various capacities at Ghana's diplomatic missions abroad, including the country’s missions in China, India, Nigeria, Germany, United Kingdom and Switzerland.
He has served as Ghana’s Deputy High Commissioner to the Court of St. James's ( United Kingdom ) between 1972 and 1976. He was also the Ghana’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Ghana to the European offices of the United Nations in Geneva with concurrent accreditation to UNIDO in Vienna, Austria, as well as the Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York City from 1980 to 1990, concurrently accredited to Cuba, Jamaica, and to Trinidad and Tobago.
In July 1994, the UN Secretary-General appointed him as Special Representative to Somalia.
