Lawyers with the Legal Aid Scheme have rescinded the decision to embark on a strike action to demand increase in salary and an improved condition of service.
Their move follows concrete assurances that their salaries will be enhanced after they are brought aboard the Single Spine Salary Structure by the end of October.
Lawyers of the scheme in the Northern Region were recently reported to have threatened a strike by the end of October, accusing government of ignoring their petitions over the years to harmonize their salaries, and review their conditions of service.
But speaking to Fiifi Banson on Anopa Kasapa on Kasapa 102.3 FM, Executive Director of the Legal Aid Scheme, Mr Yahaya Alhassan Seini, stated that lawyers practicing with the scheme have had it very tough in the discharge of their duties as they financially challenged due to the low salaries earned.
“Yes they ought to have been brought on board [the single spine] like the others as at the end of last month, but the Controller and Accountant General is working out the system to ensure that everybody is brought on board. Very soon legal aid lawyers will be on the same level as their counterparts in institutions such as the Attorney General’s office and other sectors of the justice delivery system”, Mr Seini said.
The Northern Regional Director of Legal Aid, Issah Mahmud who gave the hint in an exclusive interview with kasapafmonline.com, disclosed that the highest paid lawyer under scheme receives GH¢1,500 compared to lawyers in other public sector establishments who receive double the amount as their least .
“The condition of service of lawyers in the legal aid scheme is terrible”. Aside the fact that the salary structure is a disincentive, other entitlements are in arrears of over 6 months further having a toll on the livelihood of lawyers under scheme”.
Mr. Mahmud called for equitable treatment of lawyers in various state-owned institutions indicating that it was the only way to attract young lawyers into the scheme.
By: Kasapafmonline.com/Ghana
