The Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference has urged Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie to avoid comparing the records of successive governments when commenting on the performance of public institutions.
The Conference said the Chief Justice’s reference to the “past eight years” during a recent visit to SSNIT on September 2 could be interpreted as a political comparison.
According to the Bishops, there was nothing improper about the Chief Justice visiting public institutions, assessing their operations or commending genuine improvements.
“The difficulty lies not in the visits themselves, but in the political character that some of his remarks, in particular his reference to the ‘past eight years’, can reasonably be understood to have acquired,” they stated.
The Conference in a statement issued on Sunday (September 6, 2026) said in Ghana’s political context, such a reference could easily be understood as a comparison between the current administration and its predecessor.
It said what may have started as an assessment of institutional performance therefore took on the appearance of a partisan judgment.
The Bishops noted that the concern had also been raised publicly by the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development, which warned that such remarks could create an impression of political endorsement and weaken confidence in judicial impartiality.
They also acknowledged the Judicial Service’s clarification that the Chief Justice’s comments were made in good faith and without any intention to compromise judicial independence.
The Conference said it received that clarification in good faith.
However, it stressed that the episode raised broader concerns about the standards expected of the head of the Judiciary.
Leave a Comment