Disgruntled lawyers have withdrawn from active GBA participation — Dafeamekpor

Majority Chief Whip and President of the Ghana Law Society (GLS), Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, says some dissatisfied members of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) have deliberately stepped back from participating in the association’s activities.

According to him, the reduced participation of some lawyers is a form of protest against what they perceive as shortcomings in the GBA, particularly concerns about the association’s perceived political posture.

Speaking on Channel One TV’s The Point of View with Bernard Avle on Wednesday, October 7, Mr Dafeamekpor said the number of lawyers who attend GBA programmes and take part in its decision-making processes does not reflect the association’s overall membership.

“People revolt by being quiet. They are not fewer. They’ve taken a backstage. Check the number of lawyers who are members of the GBA, and check the number of lawyers who attend their programmes and participate in decision-making,” he said.

He explained that some lawyers believe the GBA has, over time, acquired a partisan image, a situation he said has become a source of concern among sections of its membership.

Mr Dafeamekpor said lawyers who joined the association earlier in their careers had expected such perceptions to disappear as the GBA evolved.

“When we joined in our formative years, we were hoping that they would shed some of these perceptions or misperceptions or whatever it is,” he said.

He noted that the association has mechanisms through which members can raise and address concerns but suggested that those avenues were not being sufficiently used to resolve the issues.

The GLS President further argued that lawyers who attain leadership and decision-making positions within the GBA have a responsibility to address practices that may have contributed to the association’s perceived political character.

“If the people who get to positions of decision-making on behalf of the association continue to perpetuate that tradition, so to speak, then you advise yourself. Either you decide not to be an active member,” he said.

Mr Dafeamekpor said he and other lawyers had previously raised concerns about the GBA’s perceived political posture during internal meetings.

He said the perception had persisted that the association’s level of activism changes depending on the political party in government.

“Consistently, the perception has always been that if there is a particular regime or party in place, then they are active. When another regime comes, then they are aloof,” he said.

He described the perception as a significant concern that continues to affect the relationship between the association and some of its members.