Ghanaian YouTuber and lawyer-in-waiting, Ama Governor has disclosed that the General Legal Council of Ghana (GLC) threw out the petition that accused her of being a lesbian and blocked her call to the Bar in just 15 minutes.
Ama Governor, whose real name is Elorm Ama Ababio, was denied the call to the Ghana Bar in November 2022, despite completing the law program, passing her exams and scaling her interview session.
She was accused of displaying “conduct unbecoming of an applicant to be called to the Bar” in some of her videos, where she expressed her views on feminism, body positivity, sexual liberation and queerness.
In a lengthy statement posted on her Twitter page, following remarks by Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, Ama Governor maintaining her ‘innocence’ narrated how she was hit with a letter from the GLC on November 6, 2022, informing her that a concerned citizen of Ghana had petitioned them on November 3, 2022, that she was not fit to be a lawyer and that her call to the bar had been suspended.
“Imagine this: 5th November I get the final result in- my bar exam result, and I’m index numbers 1 so number was first, I had passed. I was rejoicing and thinking about preparations towards my call on the 11th of Nov, 6 days away.
“Only to be hit out of nowhere on 6th November with a letter from the regulators of the legal profession in Ghana, General Legal Council, that a concerned citizen of the Republic of Ghana has petitioned them on 3rd November that only me, Elorm Ama Governor-Ababio, I am not fit to be called to the bar and so on that basis ALONE, my Call to the bar has been suspended and that they’ll get back to me about further details (no date given).” She wrote
The YouTuber, who has been vocal about her fight to be called to the Bar after the petition was filed against her, asserted that being queer and having relationships with women should not be considered grounds to deem her unfit for the legal profession. She described her sexual orientation as a “blissful fact” and argued that it should not affect her eligibility for admission.
“The third ground which was not challenged as a lie was that I am queer and that I sleep with women. We argued that while that was a blissful fact, it was not a ground on which I should be deemed unfit to be called to the bar. Simple. And guess what?! This obviously frivolous petition that should not have passed the prima facie test, but which managed to stop my life, was thrown out in the very first hearing within 15 minutes.”
Ama Governor expressed her frustration with the lingering effects of the petition, despite it being thrown out in the first hearing. She stated that since the incident in November 2022, her name continues to be dragged in undignified ways, and she has been used as a negative example in law classes, labelling her unworthy of the Ghana Bar.
“And yet since 6th November 2022, my name continues to be dragged in the most undignified ways. I hear in law classes, I am used as a bad example of people unworthy of the Ghana Bar. When people like the Honourable CJ also talks about you like this, I’m sorry, but I do not recognize the person you are attempting to describe me as. Me? Immoral? Unfit? Misconducting myself how? There’s not a single content I have put out on this internet that I will not boldly account for, not one, & still I think I am very fit to be called.”
Her tweets have however, sparked a lot of debate and controversy in Ghana, with some people criticizing and others supporting her.
Some lawyers have argued that she has a right to freedom of expression and that her private life should not affect her professional qualification. Others have maintained that she has shown a lack of character and integrity that is expected of a lawyer.