Election of new president will be held on September, 15
Lawyers in the country will converge this weekend at Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region for the 2021 Bar Conference. The Conference will serve as a forum to review activities of the Bar for the past three years and plan for the next three years.
This year’s conference is on the theme, ‘Ensuring an increase in revenue mobilization through taxation for the purpose of accelerated national development: The role of the lawyer’. It was selected to emphasise the importance of efficient taxation to nation building.
“Lawyers have an important role to play to help ensure that tax obligations of those expected to pay tax are duly met to help meet revenue targets. This is very important if we are to develop our nation to the level, we all desire,” a source at the Association stated.
A key highlight of the conference will be the election of new executives to run the affairs of the Bar at the National Level for the next three years. Five positions are to be contested but two of the positions (Public Relations Officer and National Secretary) have candidates who are going unopposed. The other positions are: National President, National Vice President and National Treasurer.
For the position of National President, Mr. Yaw Boafo, the Outgoing National Secretary will contest against Mrs. Efua Ghartey, the Greater Accra Regional President of the Association.
Mr. Yaw Boafo has a wealth of experience as the current National Secretary of the Association as well as former President, Vice President, Secretary and Social Secretary of the Ashanti Regional Bar at various periods, spanning a total of about 15 years.
As National Secretary, he played a key role in the establishment of a customised ICT platform that has enhanced access to Continuing Legal Education seminars for lawyers, simplified payment of members’ dues and reduced the processing time for renewal of the license for lawyers and Bar Registration certificates.
He is credited with exceptional organizational skills and has also won plaudits for his leadership roles as National Secretary of the GBA and at the Ashanti Regional Bar. He is a member of the General Legal Council and is considered a personable and charismatic leader.
Mr. Boafo’s campaign message is focused on ICT enhancement for more efficient administration of the Bar, expansion of the Bar Centre to incorporate leisure facilities and welfare improvement for all lawyers including young and female lawyers.
He has played an important role in offering young and female lawyers, better opportunities at the Bar as he worked actively to help amend the GBA Constitution to offer the Young Lawyers Forum, the Women’s Forum and Corporate Lawyers, representation on the General Council of the Bar.
Mrs. Efua Ghartey has also acquired considerable experience at the Bar with several years of practice as a lawyer.
She also leads the Greater Accra Bar Association and has been credited with the smooth running of a Regional Bar Association that perhaps has the largest number of lawyers in the country.
Mrs. Ghartey has played the gender card in her campaign, with the message that it is time to get a woman to lead the Association and has also made young lawyers a focus of her campaign.
For the position of Vice President, two candidates, Mr. Kwabena Amoako-Adjei and Yaa Gyakobo are contesting while Nana Serwa Acheampong and Dr. Adu Anani Antwi will contest for the position of Treasurer.
The elections are expected to be held on 15th September and for the first time in the history of the Association, participation and voting will be both virtual and in-person, an innovation that has become necessary because of the Covid-19 Pandemic.
The new ICT platform is expected to ensure that all eligible members of the Association can participate and vote safely, peacefully and smoothly.