The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has highlighted the urgent need for a significant expansion in the number of state attorneys to ensure the effective functioning of his office.

Speaking at the maiden conference of Public Sector Lawyers, Mr Dame stressed that the Office of the Attorney General requires a total of 1,500 attorneys to adequately fulfill its constitutional mandate under Article 88.

“There’s a need to enhance the capacity of the Office of the Attorney General to place itself in the position to rise to the demands of the complexity of the modern legal needs of the state.

“The number of state attorneys currently in the role is about 370... however, we need about 1500 state attorneys for a proper discharge of the functions of the Office of the Attorney General under Article 88 of the constitution,” he said on Tuesday.

The Attorney General underscored the importance of assigning at least one state attorney to each Ministry, Department, Agency (MDA), and District Assembly across the country.

This, he argued, would help eliminate inefficiencies caused by the current uncoordinated approach to public legal services.

“I envisage that every Ministry, Department, Agency and District Assembly ought to be serviced by at least one state attorney, a situation where MMDAs currently employ their lawyers, this does not order well for proper harmony and circulation of government legal work.

“Thus, my vision is that in the near future, we can ensure cohesion in the public service and to avoid an uncoordinated approach that leads to inefficiencies.

To address these inefficiencies, Mr Dame suggested that all lawyers working for state-owned agencies “need to be employed by the office of the Attorney General.”

Despite the inadequate human resources, Mr Dame expressed his gratitude to President Akufo-Addo for his commitment to improving the work environment for state attorneys.

He specifically noted the completion of the Law House, a 12-storey headquarters for the Office of the Attorney General, commissioned on June 10, 2024.

Describing it as “an imposing symbol of all your efforts to improve the conditions in which state attorneys work,” he praised the president’s continuous support.

Additionally, Mr Dame assured that in the next NPP administration, every regional office of the Ministry of Justice would have its own permanent building, further supporting the vision for a well-equipped and cohesive public legal service capable of meeting the state’s growing legal needs.