Legal scholar and governance reform advocate Professor Kwaku Azar is demanding sweeping changes to how lawyers are represented in Ghana's constitutional and public institutions, arguing that the current system grants the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) disproportionate and undemocratic power.
In a strongly worded statement, Azar said it is unjustifiable for a private, voluntary organization like the GBA to have entrenched powers under the 1992 Constitution, including nominating members to constitutional bodies such as the Judicial Council, the Council of State, and the National Media Commission. "The GBA is a private association.
Membership is not mandatory, yet it is treated in our Constitution as though it is the sole representative of the legal profession," he said. "This must change.
Let all lawyers vote." Azar proposed that representatives of the legal profession to constitutional bodies be chosen through a democratic process that involves all licensed lawyers in Ghana-not just those affiliated with the GBA.
