Editorial: Hypocritic Ghana Bar Association

The good old book �The Holy Bible� says in Matthew 3:7 in the King James Version that when John the Baptist saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his Baptism, he said unto hem, O generation of Vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Today, the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) can conveniently be described as the Pharisees and the Sadducees of Biblical days with a perfect description as John the Baptist gave the Pharisees, O Generation of Vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the coming wrath? The wrath �the Ghana Palaver� is talking about is not that of the President nor the government but the people of Ghana as they are gradually beginning to see the kind of Ghana Bar Association we have in the country. Lawyers, since independence, have always seen themselves as the people who know it all and therefore must not be left behind in any aspect of country�s development. This assertion is wrong and over the years, it has been proven by some prominent Ghanaians that Lawyers, like any other profession, could be left behind if they do not want to toe the line the citizenry want to take. During the struggle for independence, Lawyers led by Dr. J.B. Danquah, sought to frustrate Dr. Kwame Nkrumah when they realized he was out pacing them in the struggle for independence. That attitude that Lawyer must always lead the people has not changed with the passage of time and anytime they have found themselves in a secondary role, they have kicked against the status quo as they did during the last administration when the GBA openly declared they have decided not to take active part in the politics of the country. Who is asking them to come out of their self imposed moratorium and seek to dine with the President who is one of them and yet because he was coming from political background which they do not recognize, they decided to go into a self imposed political exile. What is it that has changed on the political scene that the GBA is today seeking the cooperation of a government led by the NDC with its President a member of the GBA and Jerry John Rawlings, whom they hated so much, as the founder. �The Ghana Palaver� hates to call the attitude of the GBA hypocritical but with their visit to the Castle last Monday that is the description any keen observer of the Ghanaian political scene would use for them judging by their utterances and actions in the past. We hope the picture on the front pages of the Dailies would be the true reflection of the kind of cooperation and trust they are willing to give the President and his party, the NDC. And like the President said, we are all, as Ghanaians, fighting for a better Ghana which demands that there should be justice. This can only be achieved when we all, including the GBA, have our shoulders to the wheels of the nation and are prepared to tolerate each other irrespective of our political affiliation.