St Obed Arist Kojo Baiden

St Obed Arist Kojo Baiden, is the eighth Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Gambia, part of the Church of the Province of West Africa.

Theological background

Baiden began his seminary training after turning down an offer of admission to the Ghana Secondary Technical School, opting to attend St Mary's Minor Seminary at Apowa instead. This began his seminary formation that would last 14 years.
He gained entrance to St Paul's Major Seminary at Sowutuom, Accra and then later to St Peter's Regional Seminary at Cape Coast, where he obtained a First Class in Philosophy, Religion and Sociology, graduating with a BA degree.
Baiden was made a deacon in 2013 at St John the Divine Anglican Church in Winneba. He was ordained to the priesthood on 10th May 2014 at St James Anglican Church, Elmina.
He was ordained and consecrated on Saturday 17th June 2023 and enthroned on Sunday 18th June 2023 as the eighth Bishop of Gambia at St Mary's Cathedral in Banjul.

Legal training

Baiden is a trained lawyer, having read law at Mountcrest University College, Accra, graduating with a Bachelor of Laws in 2015.
On 14th March 2018, he was called to the Gambian Bar by the General Legal Counsel as Solicitor and Barrister of the Supreme Court of The Gambia, having graduated from the Gambia Law School as the overall second-best student and overall best student in the Law of Evidence with a degree of Barrister-at-Law.
On 5th October 2018, Lawyer Kojo Baiden was called and enrolled to the Ghana Bar as Solicitor and Barrister of the Supreme Court of Ghana, with right of practice in both Ghana and The Gambia.