Why Alban Bagbin resigned from Ghana Bar Association

Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin announced that he is no longer part of the Ghana Bar Association on September 23, 2022.

His reason was that the association has become problematic and people are worried about its position on matters of national interest.

He added that the GBA has become an association of the elites emphasizing that despite the fact that he pays his dues, he got to know that any lawyer that attended the public tribunal was not recognized, and thus his interest in GBA diminished.

The Speaker of Parliament made this revelation when a delegation from a newly-created association of lawyers: the Law Society of Ghana (LSG) paid a courtesy call to him at his office.

Even though he did not confirm if he has joined the new society, he advised LSG to come up with reasoned opinions and critique law reports, and publish them in journals.

The Ghana Bar Association is a professional association of lawyers in Ghana, including what used to be called solicitors and barristers but is now called legal practitioners, as well as magistrates. By convention, all lawyers admitted to practice in Ghana become automatic members of the association.

However, in March 2022, some lawyers in the country reportedly registered a new company to compete with the Ghana Bar Association (GBA).

The new company goes by the name “Law Society of Ghana” (Limited by Guarantee, LBG).