The Ghana Legal Council’s (GLC) recent decision to decline the application of Ghanaian social media influencer Elomi Ababio, known as Ama Governor, to be admitted to the Bar has sparked mixed reactions among social media users. Some have commended the Council’s action, while others have criticized it.
In a letter dated October 13, the GLC cited concerns related to Ama Governor’s public behavior before her application for admission.
Prominent figures such as Ghanaian actress Lydia Forson and #FixTheCountry Convener, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, have voiced their opposition to the GLC’s ruling and cautioned against online harassment of Ama Governor.
There is a segment of social media users who argue that Ama Governor’s affiliation with the LGBTQ+ community disqualifies her from being called to the Bar. They express satisfaction with the GLC’s decision and call on Ama Governor to reconsider her actions.
In response, Oliver Barker-Vormawor noted that these individuals who are parading themselves morally upright fail to be moral themselves when it comes to abuse against the LGBTQ community.
“Particularly since there are so many of you, that will happily justify this abuse of power because it is Ama Governor! And as I have come to understand slowly your moral superiority looks the other way when persons perceived to be gay suffer abuse.”
He continued: “But truly, this has nothing to do with Ama Governor’s perceived sexuality. It is not! It is something more insidious; and explains why this country continues to fail to rise above its station!”
Oliver Barker-Vormawor, rebuked the GLC for the “abuse of power”. He noted that the Council seeks to impose a culture of silence and encourages the culture of exploitation.
What the GLC has done is really about it’s role in enforcing a culture of silence and observience that protects this system and culture of exploitation. They need conformity, control and the need for you to remember from time to time that they can control your life and take away your ambitions and future. That’s how they keep the system protected from attack from their own corner. That is what has made many law students and lawyers cockholds; and disempowered many of them as agents of change,” he wrote.