Blay Nyamekye Armah
The General Legal Council (GLC) has directed the Parliamentary Candidate of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) for Sekondi, Blay Nyamekye Armah, to submit his enrollment certificate as a lawyer, for verification.
This directive follows allegations that Armah may not be qualified to practice law within the jurisdiction, despite publicly presenting himself as a lawyer.
The directive, dated August 15, 2024, was signed by Justice Cyra Pamela C. A. Koranteng, Secretary of the General Legal Council, on behalf of the Chief Justice.
The GLC’s letter references a complaint suggesting that Mr. Armah has been holding himself out as a lawyer without the requisite legal qualifications.
The letter further warns that failure on the part of the lawyer to comply with the directive will result in the matter being referred to the Office of the Attorney-General for prosecution under Section 9(2) of the Legal Profession Act, 1960 (Act 32).
“A complaint received by the General Legal Council indicated that you publicly hold yourself as a lawyer even though you are allegedly not qualified within the jurisdiction to do so.
“I have been directed by the Honourable Lady Chief Justice and Chairperson of the General Legal Council to request you to submit your Enrolment certificate for verification”.
“Failing which you will be referred to the Office of the Attorney-General for prosecution pursuant to Section 9(2) of the Legal Profession Act, 1960 (Act 32),” the letter indicated.
Meanwhile, a statement issued on behalf of Mr. Armah by his lawyer, has explained that the NDC candidate for Sekondi has never intended to pass himself off as a lawyer and will not do so.
According to the statement, Mr. Armah is an Nzema who was named after his grandfather and popular lawyer Blay who is deceased and used to stay at Sekondi.
“Having been named after such an illustrate member of the family, it’s not surprising that members of his wider family, friends and the public alike have addressed him as Lawyer Blay from his childhood to date.”
“So, lawyer Blay has come to be like a nickname for him”, the statement added.
It however, noted that the admiration for the ‘Lawyer Blay’ appellation, convinced Mr. Armah to study law himself and pursued his legal education in the United Kingdom.
“He went through university system, studying integrated Masters in Law programme which is equivalent to a combination of the Bachelor of Law and Masters of Law degrees.”
“He is on the solicitors path, having also completed the Legal Practice Course and his training contract,” the statement added.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi