The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has highlighted the urgent need for a significant expansion in the number of state attorneys to ensure the effective functioning of his office.
Speaking at the maiden conference of Public Sector Lawyers, Attorney General Mr. Godfred Dame highlighted the need for an expanded legal workforce within his office.
He stated that the Office of the Attorney General requires a total of 1,500 attorneys to adequately meet its constitutional mandate under Article 88.
“There’s a need to enhance the capacity of the Office of the Attorney General to position itself to respond to the complexities of modern legal demands facing the state,” he remarked.
Currently, the number of state attorneys stands at around 370, but Mr. Dame emphasized the need for about 1,500 attorneys for the effective discharge of the Attorney General’s duties under Article 88 of the Constitution.
He further advocated for assigning at least one state attorney to each Ministry, Department, Agency (MDA), and District Assembly across Ghana, arguing that this would address inefficiencies created by the present, uncoordinated approach to public legal services.
“I envisage that every Ministry, Department, Agency, and District Assembly should be served by at least one state attorney. At present, some Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs) employ their own lawyers, which hinders proper cohesion and circulation of government legal work,” he explained. “Thus, my vision is to foster cohesion within the public service and eliminate the uncoordinated approach that leads to inefficiencies.”
To streamline this vision, Mr. Dame suggested that all lawyers working for state-owned agencies should be employed directly by the Office of the Attorney General.
Despite the shortage of human resources, Mr. Dame expressed his appreciation to President Akufo-Addo for his commitment to improving the work environment for state attorneys.
He highlighted the recent completion of the 12-story Law House, headquarters of the Attorney General’s Office, commissioned on June 10, 2024, describing it as “an imposing symbol of all efforts to improve the conditions in which state attorneys work.”
Looking ahead, Mr. Dame assured that in the next NPP administration, every regional office of the Ministry of Justice would have a permanent building, supporting his vision for a well-equipped and unified public legal service capable of addressing the country’s growing legal needs.