The Ghana Law Society (GLS) prioritises the welfare of its members and has no intention of competing with or challenging the Ghana Bar Association (GBA), according to Majority Chief Whip and GLS President Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor.
In an interview on Channel One TV’s The Point of View on Wednesday, October 7, Mr Dafeamekpor explained that the Society was formed to offer lawyers another professional platform with a stronger emphasis on both their professional and personal well-being.
“We’re not in competition with the Ghana Bar Association. I’m saying that as a law society, our focus has been on the welfare of our members, which the GBA doesn’t do,” he stated.
Under its welfare agenda, the GLS plans to allocate 20 per cent of members’ dues towards a life insurance scheme. Mr Dafeamekpor compared this initiative with the GBA’s past practice of channelling dues mainly into conferences, adding that the Association only introduced a welfare policy after facing earlier criticism on the issue.
His remarks were made against the background of a Supreme Court suit he is pursuing over the GBA’s asserted exclusive right to representation on certain statutory bodies. He has consistently stressed that the case does not seek to undermine the existence or importance of the GBA.
“I am not challenging their existence. The GBA is relevant,” he said.
Mr Dafeamekpor explained that the suit focuses on how provisions in the 1992 Constitution that specifically refer to the Ghana Bar Association should be interpreted. He maintains that these references should not be understood as granting exclusive representational status to a single body, especially when read together with the constitutional right to freedom of association.
He further argued that the constitutional mention of the GBA is broad enough to cover any professional association of lawyers.
Reaffirming the Society’s position, Mr Dafeamekpor said the GLS remains dedicated to promoting the interests and welfare of lawyers and has no interest in institutional rivalry with the GBA.
Story by : Emmanuel Nettey
