Activist and legal practitioner Oliver Barker-Vormawor has accused the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) of political bias, claiming the group has historically challenged appointments made by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) while remaining silent on a significantly higher number of appointments made by the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

In a strongly worded social media post, Barker-Vormawor pointed out that since the inception of the Fourth Republic in 1992, Ghana has had seven Chief Justices.

Of these, the NDC appointed only one, while the NPP is responsible for appointing the remaining six.

He emphasised that the only time the GBA went to the Supreme Court to challenge a Chief Justice's appointment was when the NDC made its sole nomination.

“The NDC appointed one Chief Justice.

The GBA challenged that appointment.

The NPP appointed all six others, and the GBA remained silent,” he stated.

Barker-Vormawor further presented what he referred to as “Evidence No. 2,” highlighting a disparity in how the GBA responded to Supreme Court appointments made by then President John Dramani Mahama compared to those made by then-President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

According to him, President Mahama nominated four judges to the Supreme Court during his tenure.

The GBA reportedly filed a suit at the Supreme Court challenging those appointments, arguing that Mahama had not selected individuals recommended by the Judicial Council and the Ghana Bar Association.

In contrast, President Akufo-Addo has, to date, nominated 20 judges to the apex court and successfully appointed 18 of them—yet none of those appointments faced legal challenges from the GBA.

Barker-Vormawor suggested that this selective challenge pattern points to political partisanship within the GBA.

“They never challenged any appointment Nana Addo made,” he claimed, implying a lack of neutrality in the GBA’s oversight role.