Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto addressing the gathering.
Law students have been urged to uphold the rule of law and address inequalities in our society.
Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, Minister of Food and Agriculture made the call at the opening ceremony of the 2022 SRC symposium and the launch of the Baffour Akoto Moot Court Competition and symposium at the Ghana Law School in Accra.
This year’s edition is under the theme “Leadership, Gender, and Disabilities Corporate Governance: The way forward after legal education.”
He said even though a lot has been achieved in the past, a lot of injustices remain in our society and needed to be addressed.
“As trained advocates, it is incumbent upon you to continually uphold the rule of law to address the inequalities in society which Baffour Osei Akoto and others fought for,” he said.
Dr. Osei Akoto said Inequality cuts across all spheres of society.
Adding that in his field, farmers are the poorest group of workers in terms of prestige, incomes, education, etc.
He mentioned that in a similar vein, the disadvantage suffered by people living with disability, women, and children in society have to be addressed through strong advocacy and public policy.
“We still have discrimination of women at the workplace and the home.”
He commended the student body for steps taken to provide new disabled-friendly facilities and also awarded scholarships to two visually-impaired students through their SRC scholarship funds.
In an address by the Student Representative Council President, Wonder Victor Kutor said the competition is organized every year as part of the SRC Week Celebrations to honour the memory and sacrifices made by the Late Chief Linguist of the Asante Kingdom, Baffour Osei Akoto.
According to him, this year’s competition will involve the participation of other African countries and other law faculties in Ghana, whilst a symposium will for the first time be held as part of the celebrations.
Baffour Osei Akoto is seen as a doyen of Ghana’s struggle for true multi-party democracy.
His landmark case Re: Akoto & 7 others is celebrated every year by the Ghana Law School as part of activities marking its SRC Week Celebration.
Present at the ceremony included Justice Dennis Adjei, Justice of the Court of Appeal and Mr. Kwasi Prempeh-Eck, Director of Legal Education and Ghana School of Law, Mr. Juliette Adu-Adjei, Registrar of the Ghana School of Law and Management and Staff of the Ghana School of Law
By Linda Tenyah-Ayettey