Ghana has only about 11,000 lawyers; 2,000 citizens to a lawyer — Justice Ackaah-Boafo

Supreme Court nominee, Justice Kweku Tawiah Ackaah-Boafo, has expressed concern over the low number of lawyers in Ghana compared to other countries with even smaller populations.

Appearing before Parliament’s Appointments Committee on Friday, June 20, Justice Ackaah-Boafo revealed that Ghana has only about 11,000 lawyers, out of which approximately 8,000 are actively practising.

This, he said, translates to a ratio of about one lawyer to every 2,000 citizens.

“Well, the last count, from information I got—because I teach at the law school—is that between 1877 and 1963, there were about 570 lawyers in Ghana. But from 1962 to 2025, we now have about 10,400 lawyers. So, in total, we’re looking at around 11,000 lawyers, according to the Ghana Bar Association portal,” he explained.

“As I sit here, the number of practising lawyers is about 8,000. If you consider our population, that gives us a ratio of one lawyer to about 2,000 citizens,” he added.

Justice Ackaah-Boafo compared this to Ontario, Canada, which in 2020 had a population of around 14 million and over 56,000 lawyers, representing a far better ratio of one lawyer to about 1,700 people.

To address the gap, he called for broad stakeholder discussions to explore sustainable solutions for expanding access to legal education and practice in the country.