GBA Archives -

Efua Ghartey elected as first female GBA President

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Legal practitioner, Efua Ghartey has been elected as the first female President of the Ghana Bar Association. This took place during the GBA election at the Great Hall of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). Efua Gartey garnered 1,208 while Kwadzo Dzakpasu secured 1,060 votes. Her two previous attempts to lead the Association ended in a narrow loss to Tony Forson, the immediate past president of the GBA, and Yaw Boafo, the current national president, by thin margins of 67 and 65 votes, respectively. In 1994, she co-founded Ghartey & Ghartey with Joe Ghartey. Efua Ghartey, who was the immediate past chair of the Greater Accra branch of the GBA, has over 20 years of experience at the bar. Her victory marks a significant milestone for the GBA, which has been led by male presidents since inception. In her acceptance speech, the GBA President-elect promised to protect the legal profession, expressing her Joy to be elected the first female President of the Association. “I am humbled and honored to be the first female President of the Ghana Bar Association, this indeed is something new that the bar for the first time has entrusted leadership to the ladies. “We shall make you proud. We shall make sure that you never regret this choice. What we ask for moving forward is that not only do you pray for us but also hold our hands,” said Efua Ghartey. “I pledge to work tirelessly to promote the interests of lawyers, to protect the rule of law, and to advance the cause of justice in Ghana.” Ms Ghartey’s election has been hailed as a major breakthrough for women in the legal profession in Ghana. Her victory is seen as a testament to her hard work, dedication, and commitment to the advancement of the legal profession. As President of the GBA, Efua Ghartey has promised to lead the organization’s efforts to promote the rule of law, protect the rights of lawyers, and advance the interests of the legal profession in Ghana. Her inauguration ceremony is scheduled to take place on Monday, November 4, 2024. In a statement, the outgoing GBA President, Yaw Boafo said that the GBA feels “proud to have Efua Ghartey as its first female President” and looks forward to working with her to achieve the set goals and objectives. myjoyonline

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Eastern Regional GBA: Free pads needed to protect girls from exploitation

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The Ghana Bar Association (GBA) has called on the government to provide free sanitary pads to all basic and senior high school girls and subsidise the cost for tertiary institution students. This call comes after the Eastern Regional chapter of the GBA discovered that some individuals are exploiting the high cost of sanitary pads to manipulate and sexually exploit vulnerable school girls who cannot afford them. President of the Eastern Regional Ghana Bar Association, Francis Polly led a team to distribute over 800 free sanitary pads to seven deprived basic schools in Koforidua. He emphasised that the association will continue to donate sanitary pads to schools. He urged the government to make them freely available to girls in primary and Junior high schools and subsidised for senior high school students. “This is from the bar Councillors service, at our last meeting we resolved that we spend and celebrate Father’s Day by donating sanitary pads to female schools. We chose seven schools within Koforidua and this is the third school we visited, tomorrow we will continue. “We realised that the pads are now very expensive and the girls and parents cannot afford them and some unscrupulous young men are taking advantage of that, promising the girls that they will get them money to buy pads and take advantage of those girls so we thought we would set the pace by doing donations.” “This is not the first we are doing it we are going to continue and then do more. They should hurry up and even make sanitary pads free for girls in the primary and the JHS level, they should make it free for them and then subsidised for those in SHS. The government should distribute it to them monthly basis for free.” Mr Polly warned that failing to provide sanitary pads puts girls at risk of health hazards and exploitation by predatory individuals, adding that parents should also support their daughters by providing them with sanitary pads regularly. CitiNewsroom

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We must consider exceptions to the general rule on charging legal fees – Lawyer

The Head of Ahmed Legal Consult, Musah Ahmed, is advocating for the General Legal Council to consider exceptions to the approved fee charging of legal practitioners. The Ghana Bar Association has established fees that clients are expected to pay its members based on the type of case and the years of experience a lawyer has among other factors. Legal practitioners are required to adhere to these approved charges strictly. Overestimating fees is considered misconduct, and lawyers can risk losing their licenses. Conversely, undercharging is deemed detrimental to the legal profession. Speaking on JoyNews’ The Law on March 24, Mr Ahmed asserts that although the rules are intended to benefit the legal profession, they cannot always be strictly adhered to. Mr Ahmed clarified that in some instances, the relationship with the clients can influence the fee charged. As such, he could not always apply the approved fees. “You see that is why I said initially that we should not simply remove the profession from the normal law of contract. You see we talked about consideration, what is the value of the consideration. We cannot adhere strictly to this,” he said. “If for instance, I have a client who has known me for many years and I have known him over 20 years. Within that period he has been of value to me in terms of assistance. He has given me several things that I cannot quantify in money. If he comes to me with his case shouldn’t I have the discretion to slash the fees for such a person? “Shouldn’t that be within the sphere of law of contract such that I have the right to determine what comes to me? Forget about the integrity aspect of it. Certain factors must be considered. For me, we should have exceptions to the general rule,” he added. GBA SCALE OF FEES 2022 myjoyonline.

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