Ex-GBA President says bid to drop Association from Constitution is “partisan”

Former Ghana Bar Association (GBA) President Yaw Acheampong Boafo has accused the Constitution Review Committee (CRC) of pushing a politically driven proposal to delete the GBA’s name from the 1992 Constitution, claiming the move is being championed by the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Speaking on Good Evening Ghana, Mr Boafo said the recommendation lacks a credible evidence base, arguing that none of the state bodies where the GBA plays a role has raised concerns about the association’s contribution or conduct.

The GBA currently has representation across key governance touchpoints, including the Police Council, Immigration Council, General Legal Council, Judicial Council and the National Media Commission. Mr Boafo questioned whether there is any data showing the Bar’s representatives have failed to discharge their mandate.

He also pointed to Ghana’s political history, noting that even under the late Jerry John Rawlings, whose relationship with the GBA was often strained, the association was still recognised in the constitutional architecture, in his view because of its institutional value.

The CRC’s final report, released publicly after being presented to President John Dramani Mahama in December 2025, proposes changes that would remove GBA-nominated seats in some security-sector oversight structures, replacing them with “senior lawyers” nominated through other channels.

Mr Boafo said accepting such a proposal without stakeholder justification from the affected councils risks weakening the Bar’s role in Ghana’s democratic accountability framework.