Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has called on the Chief Justice, Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, to resign from office and formally join the National Democratic Congress (NDC), accusing him of engaging in partisan political commentary.
According to the NPP, the Chief Justice has descended from the “sacred heights of the Bench into the trenches of partisan politics” following comments in a video circulating publicly in which he allegedly compared the performance of the current NDC government and its appointees favourably to that of the previous NPP administration.
The party, in a statement signed by its General Secretary, Justin Kodua Frimpong, said such commentary was inappropriate for the head of the nation’s Judiciary and raised questions about his neutrality.
“This is not the language of a Chief Justice. It is the language of a party propagandist,” the NPP said, arguing that if the Chief Justice wished to engage in political commentary, “he should resign forthwith and formally take up membership of the NDC.”
The party further accused Justice Baffoe-Bonnie of compromising the independence of the Judiciary through his closeness to political appointees of the Mahama administration.
It cited the Chief Justice’s attendance at functions involving government appointees, as well as his reported declaration that everything must be done to ensure the success of the President’s agenda.
The NPP questioned the implications of such a declaration for the independence of the Judiciary, particularly in cases involving persons associated with the opposition party.
“A Chief Justice swears a single oath, and it is to the Constitution: to no President, no party and no agenda,” the statement said.
The party also linked its concerns to the government’s Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL), arguing that persons associated with the NPP were being arraigned before courts presided over by a Chief Justice who had allegedly pledged his support for the President’s agenda.
The NPP further alleged that the Judiciary was operating at “too speeds,” citing what it described as the “extraordinary alacrity” with which vacation warrants had been issued in cases involving NPP members.
It specifically referred to the incarceration of the former NPP Ashanti Regional Chairman, Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, as evidence of what it considers to be the selective application of justice.
The party alleged that the Chief Justice’s conduct and pronouncements had created the perception that the Judiciary was coordinating with the Presidency.
It accused him of having “willed and surrendered the Judiciary to the President and his agenda men,” describing such a Judiciary as “a third chamber of Jubilee House.”
Beyond the political allegations, the NPP criticised the Chief Justice over the state of infrastructure and working conditions within the Judiciary.
It said that several courts and offices were in disrepair, registries were overwhelmed and staff were working under conditions that affected justice delivery.
The party said the Chief Justice had failed to sufficiently address those challenges, accusing him instead of focusing on engagements with government agencies.
“The leaking roofs are in your courts, not in the ministries,” the NPP stated.
The party has therefore demanded that Justice Baffoe-Bonnie immediately retract his partisan commentary and his alleged vow of loyalty to the President’s agenda.
It said failure to do so should result in his resignation and formal entry into the NDC.
The NPP also called on President John Dramani Mahama to fill the vacant position on the Council of State and publicly disavow any arrangement concerning the Chief Justice’s post-retirement future.
The party said it would soon organise a major press conference to present the “full record” of the Chief Justice’s conduct to the Ghanaian public.
It pledged to resist, through lawful means, any attempt to turn the Judiciary into an instrument of political persecution.
By Ernest Kofi Adu