Member of Parliament for South Dayi, Rockson Nelson Dafeamekpor, has suggested that the General Legal Council (GLC) has refused to listen to anybody regarding the ongoing fracas between some law students and the Council despite parliament’s directive.
According to him, the Council has not heeded to parliament’s directive to admit the 499 law students who passed the 50% threshold score during its entrance exams.
Mr Dafeamekpor explained that despite frantic efforts by parliament to see to the finality of the matter, the Council has not issued out any statement to address the agitations and concerns raised by students who believe they made the mark.
“The agitation has been that admit the number who pursuant to the earlier conditions have crossed 50%, so that in the future we can deal with this. The GLC won’t speak to this issue. Until today, they’ve not spoken or addressed the issue. This came to the attention of parliament and… I’ve heard people making all sorts of comments whether parliament is clothe with the power. We are fully clothe with the powers… So, clearly, they are not minded to listen to anybody. The best thing for parliament to do is to give the directive…”
Rockson Nelson Dafeamekpor
In the 2021 entrance exams to the Ghana Law School, only 790 candidates out of the 2,820 who sat for the exams were recognized to have gotten the pass mark required for admission to the Ghana School of Law.
Mr Dafeamekpor noted that when the matter came to parliament, they were on recess and anticipated a move from GLC to say “something and even explain” their side of the story. He noted that the Council “won’t speak” and have refused to “talk to anybody”.
The South Dayi legislator disclosed that in matters like this, parliament “doesn’t need to invite GLC”. This, he explained, was because time is of the “essence” as GLC has proceeded with arrangement, issued timetables and requested students to be “assigned their campuses”.
GLC did not state a pass mark of 50%
Meanwhile, the Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has disclosed that the General Legal Council has not under any circumstances indicated that the pass mark for the entrance exams into the law school is 50%.
Contained in a letter addressed to the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Dame explained that it is a flawed impression created that the pass mark was 50%.
“The notice in the Daily Graphic of May 14, 2021, inviting applications from suitably qualified Ghanaians for admission into the Ghana School of Law did not state a pass mark of 50% or any at all as a basis for admission. The notice stated that applicants may be granted admission if they have passed the entrance examination conducted by the GLC”.
Mr Godfred Dame
In a similar vein, the Attorney General revealed that parliament cannot direct the GLC on its admission processes by resolution. His statements follow parliament’s directive to the Attorney General to ensure that the resolution of Parliament to the GLC in admitting the 499 students is respected.
“Whilst recognising the general legislative powers of Parliament in Ghana, except as have been circumscribed by the Constitution, I am constrained to advise that Parliament is devoid of power through the use of Parliamentary resolutions, to control the process of admission into the Ghana School of Law”.
Mr Godfred Dame
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