Lawyers in Ghana have come under renewed scrutiny following the call to the Bar of 824 new practitioners. However, legal expert David Ofosu-Dorte has urged the public to examine the numbers in context before drawing conclusions about oversaturation. He noted that the latest additions bring the national total to about 9,505 lawyers, with an estimated 7,300 based in Accra.
He compared Ghana’s lawyer-to-population ratio with other countries. Ghana has “about 1 lawyer to an average of about 3,600 people.” Kenya records one to 6,200 people. The United States has “four lawyers to 1,000 people.” He acknowledged that the numbers may appear high on the surface but cautioned against quick assumptions.
Ofosu-Dorte referencing other professions, stated that universities in Ghana graduate about 4,500 MBA students each year. He emphasized that these figures exceed the annual number of new lawyers.
He also drew attention to agriculture graduates. According to him, out of roughly 109,000 first-degree graduates in Ghana each year, about three percent study agriculture. That results in more than 3,000 graduates annually. He argued that the public often ignores these comparisons because other professions do not receive the same attention as lawyers.
He further highlighted the low doctor-to-patient ratio and the limited capacity to place them in the system. For him, the focus should not be on whether the country has too many lawyers.
He said Ghana must decide the kind of development it wants to pursue and which professions should grow to support it. He also questioned how the country can make fields like manufacturing and production engineering appealing to new talent. Employment opportunities, in his view, must match the areas the nation hopes to strengthen.
Ofosu-Dorte also pointed out that many new lawyers come from backgrounds in civil engineering, physics, and science. He explained that law often serves as a second profession and should not be assessed in isolation.
Lawyer Figures Should Inform Workforce Strategy
Looking ahead, Ofosu-Dorte projected that the number of lawyers could rise next year. He said, “The students in the class in part one that I taught are about 1,500. So if I take the average pass ratio, next year, we are going to graduate more than 1,000 lawyers.” Even with that increase, he stressed that MBA graduates would still outnumber lawyers.
He further argued that Ghana is churning out more journalists than lawyers.
For Ofosu-Dorte, the debate around lawyers exposes a broader issue. He believes Ghana must align professional training with national development goals. He argued that focusing on lawyers alone misses the real challenge of workforce distribution.
