The Member of Parliament for Kwesimintsim, Philip Fiifi Buckman, has described Legal Aid Commission services in northern Ghana as “pathetic”, saying Tamale and Bolgatanga had only one lawyer serving the Commission between them.
Mr Buckman, a member of Parliament’s Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee, made the remarks at the launch of the 2026 Legal Aid Week in Accra, recounting a recent oversight visit to the northern regions.
“We went to Bolgatanga and Tamale, and it was pathetic. The whole of Bolgatanga, the whole of Tamale had only one lawyer for the Legal Aid Commission. The whole of Tamale,” he said.
He said the committee was told that the same lawyer was responsible for both cities, highlighting what he described as a serious shortage of legal personnel available to support people who cannot afford legal representation.
“In fact, we are even happy, or we were happy to hear that the person who was in charge of Bolgatanga was the same person in charge of Tamale,” he added.
Mr Buckman urged the government to take decisive steps to provide the Commission with the resources it needs to fulfil its mandate.
“We as a government, I say we as a government because I’m part of government, have to take the bold decision to resource the Legal Aid Commission enough to perform its duties,” he said.
His comments follow an appeal by the Commission’s Board Chairman, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Kwame Asiedu Adibu, for urgent support to address staffing and office shortages.
Justice Adibu said the Commission has 190 staff nationwide and operates 45 offices across Ghana’s 261 districts. It has a presence in only 10 of the country’s 16 regions.
He also disclosed that the Commission was short by about 180 staff, limiting its ability to reach people who need legal services.
The Legal Aid Commission is mandated under the Legal Aid Commission Act, 2018 (Act 977), to provide legal assistance to indigent and vulnerable people.
Sections 24 and 25 of the Act provide for the establishment of offices in every region and district, but the Commission’s current reach falls short of that requirement.
The staffing and infrastructure gaps raise concerns about the ability of people in underserved communities to obtain legal advice and representation when dealing with courts, police and other parts of the justice system.
The Commission has repeatedly called for increased financial, infrastructural and human resource support to expand its services.
Mr Buckman’s remarks add to calls for the government to address the shortfall, with the scale of the resources committed likely to shape how effectively the Commission can extend legal aid to underserved communities.