Ghana Law Society President Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor says the newly inaugurated organization was formed to support lawyers, not compete with the Ghana Bar Association. He described member welfare as its distinct focus while addressing the relationship between the two groups and a legal challenge he has filed.
Speaking to Bernard Avle on Channel One TV’s The Point of View on Wednesday, October 7, Dafeamekpor rejected the idea that the Ghana Law Society (GLS) should be viewed as a rival to the GBA. “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 said. The source interview report said he emphasized the society’s attention to members’ interests.
Ghana Law Society Sets Out Welfare Focus
Dafeamekpor said the GLS intends to direct 20 per cent of members’ dues toward a life insurance policy. He described the allocation as part of the society’s welfare programme. His account set that plan against what he said had been the GBA’s traditional use of members’ dues for conferences, without a comprehensive welfare arrangement.
He also acknowledged that the GBA has recently introduced a welfare policy. Dafeamekpor attributed that development partly to his criticism of the association’s approach to member welfare. His comments therefore described both a difference in emphasis and a recent policy change by the GBA, rather than saying the association has no welfare measures at all.
A Court Challenge About Representation
The welfare discussion comes alongside Dafeamekpor’s case at the Supreme Court. He has challenged the basis of the GBA’s role under the 1992 Constitution and the Legal Profession Act. He said the case concerns the association’s claim to exclusive authority to represent lawyers on statutory bodies because it is named in certain constitutional provisions.
He rejected the suggestion that the legal action was intended to undermine the GBA or deny its place in the profession. “I am not challenging their existence. The GBA is relevant,” he said. His stated objection is narrower: he argues that naming the GBA in constitutional provisions is too generic to establish singular representation and that other professional associations of lawyers could come under the same umbrella.
“What I am challenging about the GBA is their claim to singularity of representation on statutory bodies by virtue of the fact that the Constitution mentions them specifically in these provisions,” Dafeamekpor said. He added that any interpretation of those provisions should account for the constitutional guarantee of freedom of association. The dispute turns on how that guarantee relates to the GBA’s asserted representative role, as described by Dafeamekpor.
His position also links the institutional debate to differences among lawyers. He called for tolerance when members of the profession hold opposing political views, saying, “We are lawyers. We should be tolerant of opposing views. That’s our training.” He argued the GLS would not take an anti-NPP position simply because some of its members are affiliated with the New Patriotic Party.
The Ghana Law Society was formally inaugurated on September 30, 2026, at its maiden bar conference. Dafeamekpor’s remarks presented its member-welfare programme and his court challenge as separate parts of its current public profile. The Supreme Court case will address the representation issue he raised, while the society says its welfare work is directed toward its members. Law News Day has also covered recent Supreme Court proceedings, law society leadership and representation in the legal profession.
