Ghana needs more lawyers to ensure justice for all – Former Law School SRC President

Gertrude Emefa Donkor, a newly qualified lawyer and the immediate Past SRC President of the Ghana School of Law, has raised alarm over the shortage of lawyers in Ghana.

She highlighted the misconception that Ghana has an oversupply of lawyers, noting that the reality is quite the opposite.

Ms Donkor revealed that Ghana’s current lawyer-to-population ratio stands at one lawyer for every 5,000 citizens, far below the ideal ratio of 1 to 250.

“The ratio of lawyers to citizens averagely needs to be 1 to 250. Currently, in Ghana, we have one lawyer is to 5000 citizens, we are under-lawyered. We’re actually under-lawyered and we need more. But people see the numbers and they say why are you producing too many lawyers? But we’re under-lawyered. One is to five thousand [5,000] that is the ratio.”

She further explained that a significant number of people in prison lack adequate legal representation, which contributes to their incarceration.

Ms Donkor stressed the pivotal role lawyers’ play in ensuring justice, advocating for more lawyers to help bridge the gap in Ghana’s legal system.

“A lot of people are in jail now because they came to court without representation and they couldn’t make their case. And so, they are lying in jail. A lot of cases in court now shouldn’t be there, transactions gone wrong, if you had spoken to a lawyer and had sought legal opinion, you probably wouldn’t have ended in court. So we need lawyers, you need a lawyer, every other person you need to talk to a lawyer. You always need legal advice in taking every step, it’s important.”

Emefa was among the 777 newly inducted lawyers in Ghana by the Ghana Legal Council on October 11, 2024, at the Accra International Conference Centre, marking a significant milestone in her career.

10 new lawyers were awarded for outstanding performance during their professional law course. Four of the awardees were men, while six were females.