GLC Denies Ama Governor A Call To The Bar Again

The General Legal Council (GLC) has for the second time denied Elorm Ababio, popularly known as Ama Governor a call to the Bar.

The YouTuber who was denied the privilege in 2022 got her second disappointment in a letter on Wednesday.

In the letter sighted by opemsuo.com, the GLC said their decision was taken after monitoring her conduct.

At a GLC meeting on October 17, it concluded that an element in her public conduct was unfit for the Bar.

“In line with the General Legal Council’s letter dated 13th March 2023, Council was to monitor and observe your conduct during the time leading up to the submission of your application to be called to the Bar.

“At the meeting of the General Legal Council held on Tuesday: 17th October 2023, your application to be called to the Bar was declined on account of elements noted in your public conduct prior to the application.”

The Council has thus directed her to complete another application to be called while it continues to monitor her conduct.

“You may complete the appropriate forms for application to be called to the Bar, any time there is a scheduled enrollment ceremony after the 20th October 2023 enrollment ceremony.”

Reaction
But lawyer and activist Oliver Barker Vormawor thinks the action of the GLC is an abuse of power with the hope of “enforcing a culture of silence and subservience that protects their system and culture of exploitation”.

In his interpretation of development, the GLC, “need conformity, control and the need for you to remember from time to time that they can control your life and take away your ambitions and future”.

“That’s how they keep the system protected from attack from their own corner. That is what has made many law students and lawyers… disempowered… as agents of change.”

Background
Ama Governor’s call to the Bar together with her colleagues on November 11, 2022, was put on hold after a “concerned citizen” petitioned the Council over the breach of the Ghana School of Law’s Students Code of Conduct on her part despite passing the examinations.

A copy of the petition to the GLC by one Hajia Siduri said Ama Governor does not have a “good character”- a basic requirement for a call to the bar- and “should not become a lawyer in Ghana”.

“Ms Ababio can be seen on a widely circulated video of herself and other students damaging the reputation of the school’s lecturers and the entire school. One such video published on her YouTube channel is titled “Ghana School of Law: Does Law Students Sleep in class?” It has been viewed by thousands of subscribers to her YouTube account.”

Other things the “concerned citizen” talked about are Ama Governor’s nose piercing and sexuality- lesbian.

Per the petition which was dated October 30, Ama does not deserve to remain in the Ghana School of Law or to be called to the bar.

Regulation 21(c) of the Legal Profession (Professional and Post-call Law Course) Regulations, 2018 L.I. 2355 states that “A student of the school qualifies to be called to the Bar if that student has … satisfied the Council that the student is of good character.”