Lawyer suspended 2 yrs – For impersonating Deputy Interior Minister

The General Legal Council has suspended Lawyer James Abiaduka, a private legal practitioner, for two years for falsely representing to his clients that he was James Agalga, Deputy Interior Minister.

A statement signed by Justice Alex B. Poku-Acheampong, Judicial Secretary and Secretary to General Legal Council, and posted on the website of the Judicial Service, said the suspension took effect from April 7, 2016.

According to the statement, Lawyer James Abiaduka was formally charged under Rule 9 (7) of the Legal Profession (Professional Conduct and Etiquette) Rules, 1969 L.I. 613 for falsely representing to his clients that he was James Agalga Esq. when he knew that the said statement was patently false.

“During the period of suspension, he shall not hold himself out as a Legal Practitioner or attend Chambers or render or purport to render any professional legal service to any person whatsoever.

“The licence of Mr Abiaduka to practice for the legal year is hereby withdrawn forthwith,” the statement added.

Despite the suspension, legal practitioners and anti-corruption activists said the General Legal Council should have reported the case to the police to arrest and prosecute the suspended lawyer.

According to them, false representation is a criminal offence and, therefore, the General Legal Council should have reported the matter to the police for further action.

Several calls to Justice Alex B. Poku-Acheampong, Judicial Secretary and Secretary to General Legal Council, to find out why the case was not reported to the police were not answered.

By Elvis DARKO, Accra

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ABOUT: Nana Kwesi Coomson

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An Entrepreneur, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Communications Executive and Philanthropist. Editor-in-Chief of www.233times.com. A Senior Journalist with Ghanaian Chronicle Newspaper. An alumnus of Adisadel College where he read General Arts. His first degree is in Bachelor of Arts - Political Science (major) and History (minor) from the University of Ghana. He holds MSc in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Energy with Public Relations (PR) from the Robert Gordon University in the United Kingdom. He is a 2018 Mandela Washington Fellow who studied at Clark Atlanta University in USA on the Business and Entrepreneurship track.

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