Joyce Bawah Mogtari, Senior Aide and Advisor to President John Dramani Mahama, says Ghana must continue to invest in the legal profession. She made the call days after the Ghana Law Society held its maiden Annual Bar Conference on Wednesday, September 30, 2026.
In her message, she said, “we must continue to invest in a legal profession that is responsive to the changing needs of our country, anchored in professional excellence and committed to justice and the public good.”
The Society had placed legal reform at the centre of its first major gathering.
A Maiden Conference Built Around Reform
The Ghana Law Society announced the conference on August 15, 2026, through a statement from General Secretary Sam Atukwei Quaye on behalf of its National Executive Council. Organisers billed it as the Society’s first Annual Bar Conference and chose the theme “Legal Reforms: The Place of the Ghanaian Lawyer.”
They said it would bring lawyers, judges, policymakers and the wider public together to deliberate on policy gaps and other legal matters of national interest.
The event was graced by the Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah, who represented President Mahama as Special Guest of Honour. Other high-profile figures in attendance also included Speaker of Parliament Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, and Attorney General Dr Dominic Akuritinga Ayine.
Bawah Mogtari described the gathering as a space for reflection, professional exchange, and conversation about where the profession is headed.
What Investment in Lawyers Looks Like
Investment in a profession is easy to endorse and harder to define. For lawyers, it starts with continuing education that keeps pace with new statutes and court decisions.
It extends to mentoring for young practitioners, who often carry heavy caseloads with little guidance. It also means forums where lawyers test ideas against the experience of judges and policymakers.
The Society framed the Bar Conference as one such forum. Its theme asks what part the Ghanaian lawyer plays in reforming the law itself, which puts the burden of change on the profession as much as on Parliament or the courts. A single conference will not settle that question, but an annual one gives the Bar a fixed moment to keep asking it.
Integrity as a Public Asset
Bawah Mogtari put the point plainly: “the strength of our justice system depends not only on the knowledge of the law itself, but on the commitment, integrity and continued development of those entrusted with upholding it.”
Citizens rarely read statutes. They meet the lawyer who explains their rights, the prosecutor who builds a case, and the advocate who stands before a judge. Each encounter shapes how far people trust the system, and trust is slow to rebuild once lost.
The Ghana Law Society says it is dedicated to promoting excellence, ethical standards and good governance among its members. Those aims carry weight only when the profession enforces them and keeps training lawyers to meet them.
A Message From Inside Government
Bawah Mogtari writes from inside the presidency, so her words reach readers as a government voice. Her post offered no policy proposals and named no programme, which makes it an expression of support, not a commitment of state resources.
She closed by congratulating the Society and everyone who made the gathering meaningful, then added the hashtag #ActaNonVerba, Latin for deeds, not words. The hashtag sets its own test.
What Comes Next for the Bar
The real measure now lies beyond the conference hall. Observers can look for an outcome document from the Society, reform proposals sent to government, and training or mentoring programmes for younger lawyers. Neither the Society nor Bawah Mogtari has announced such steps in the material reviewed for this report.
A first conference sets expectations for the second, and lawyers who took part will want to see the discussions turn into action. Until that happens, the call to invest remains a statement of intent, and the profession’s next moves will show how seriously it takes the words.
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