Togbe Afede XIV, Agbogbomefia of Asogli, has called on legal practitioners to work together with the nation’s leadership towards the realisation of accelerated development and the consolidation of the country’s fledgling democracy.
He said the law played an important role as an instrument of social justice, and therefore, legal practitioners should most consider the measure of developmental impact as a call to duty.
Togbe Afede made the remarks when he treated members of the Ghana Bar Association to dinner in Ho.
The Association is having its 2022 Annual General Meeting in the city.
Togbe Afede said Africa’s woes of poverty, which resulted from greed-induced corruption, had recently been aggravated by the coronavirus pandemic, and wars of global impact.
He found it confusing how a continent well-endowed with natural resources and prime population continued to suffer poverty and inequality, among other difficulties, including deficiencies in infrastructure, and “galloping” joblessness.
The Agbogbomefia said Ghana’s Constitution directive principles focused on socio-economic development, and that there was the need to appeal to all and hoped the Bar Conference would find some reflection on the nation’s development.
“The question is how we got here and how we use our legal structures to help address the challenges.
“The winner takes-all-politics brought a lot of acrimonies, fighting, discrimination, and threat to peace and security. The question is how the legal profession can help to bring order into our politics.
“There is also the issue of greed and selfishness-how can the law ensure that we have a more structured system that ensures meritocracy and benefits us all? Corruption robs a country of its resources, stifles private initiatives, and benefits a few against the majority.
“How do we use the law to ensure that we minimise corruption and its challenges? We are all part of the fight, including the traditional authorities. The Ex-gratia is also a challenge- How do we work together with our leadership to solve these problems – how do we work together to bring the development that is the dream of our people?
“The relevance of any profession has to do with how it meets the needs of the people it serves. The legal profession must be measured in how it brings development, and it is my desire that legal professionals would focus on these aspects- how they support the realisation of our most important objectives for development.”
“That is the challenge I want to throw today, and I ask that you focus on this as you meet in Ho,” Togbe Afede stated.
The Agbogbomefia received a standing ovation at the dinner, and thanked the Association for the honour, calling to “forge a very pleasant friendship between Asogli and the Bar Association.
Andrews Adugu, Secretary of the Volta Bar, applauded Togbe’s ideals and principles and said the Association would support his endeavours, including, a new Ho City project, which the Agbogbomefia is desirous of achieving.
The Association is spending a week in Ho with a packed itinerary that includes conferences, a health walk, tourist site visits and a musical concert, in what Mr Adugu said had been declared a “memories conference.”
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo opened the Conference on Monday and feasted members at a Presidential Ball at the Volta Residency on the same evening before embarking on a two-day tour of the Volta Region.
Source: GNA
