The Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference has expressed concern over recent public remarks by Chief Justice Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, saying the comments could create an impression of political partisanship and weaken public confidence in judicial impartiality.
The concern follows the Chief Justice’s visits to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) and the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) on September 2, 2026, during which he reportedly referred to developments over the “past eight years.”
In a statement, the Catholic Bishops said there was nothing improper about the Chief Justice visiting public institutions, familiarising himself with their operations or commending genuine improvements.
However, they said the reference to the “past eight years” could reasonably be interpreted in Ghana’s political context as a comparison between the current administration and its predecessor.
According to the Bishops, such remarks, even if intended as an assessment of institutional performance, could take on the appearance of a partisan political judgment.
The Conference noted that similar concerns had already been raised by the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), which warned that the remarks could create an impression of political endorsement and potentially undermine confidence in judicial impartiality.
The Bishops also acknowledged a clarification from the Judicial Service that the Chief Justice’s comments were made in good faith and were not intended to compromise judicial independence.
Despite the clarification, the Catholic Bishops said the incident raises broader questions about judicial ethics and the importance of maintaining public trust in the Judiciary.
They stressed that judicial independence depends not only on actual impartiality but also on the visible appearance of impartiality, particularly for the head of the Judiciary.
The Conference said judges, and especially the Chief Justice, must remain above partisan political contests because the courts may at any time be called upon to adjudicate disputes involving the government, political parties and public institutions.
The Bishops, however, stopped short of calling for the Chief Justice’s resignation, describing such calls on the basis of the remarks alone as disproportionate.
They said the issue was not whether the Chief Justice was entitled to hold personal political convictions, but whether his public conduct in office could create reasonable doubt about his impartiality.
The Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference urged the matter to be approached with sobriety, stressing the need to protect the integrity, independence and public confidence in Ghana’s Judiciary.
Discussion about this post