The Ghana Bar Association (GBA) has rejected claims that it selectively criticises political actors, insisting that it has consistently spoken out on issues regardless of which government is in power.
The Association’s Deputy General Secretary, Saviour Kudze, was responding to comments by Deputy Attorney-General Dr Justice Srem-Sai, who accused the GBA of selective criticism and questioned the consistency of its response to recent comments by Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Top Story on Monday, September 14, Mr Kudze said the GBA is a professional body and does not align itself with any political party.
“Ghana Bar Association is not a political institution. It’s an association of lawyers, professional lawyers. The fact that we issue statements or criticise issues at times that people are not comfortable with doesn’t mean that we are a political association, or we support a certain political regime,”he said.
He said the Association has demonstrated consistency in its responses to statements by politicians, citing a similar response to comments made by Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin and NDC MP Francis-Xavier Sosu.
According to him, the GBA’s position has remained the same irrespective of the political party involved.
“The word it is is that, I must repeat, Ghana Bar Association has no favor with any political party. We just say our issues, or do our things that is necessary.”
Mr Kudze acknowledged that members of the public were entitled to their perceptions about the Association but rejected suggestions that its interventions were politically motivated.
“People may have their perceptions though. That is their right.”
He also questioned why discussions about the GBA’s political leanings often overshadow what he described as more pressing national challenges.
“There are many important issues to think about in this country, but every time Ghana Bar Association holds an event, the next thing you hear is that they are politically biased.”
“We have problems of sanitation, we have problems of galamsey. Why don’t we spend our time on those productive issues?”
