Former Minister of State in charge of Tertiary Education, Prof. Kwesi Yankah, has said the recent comments by the Chief Justice, Paul Kwadwo Baffoe-Bonnie, at some state-owned enterprises should be interpreted by the President as an application for early retirement.
Prof. Yankah says the Chief Justice has only three months to retire after getting the position close to his sendoff, and his conduct should be seen as such.
He said this in an opinion piece titled “Is Ghana devaluing Justice?”, published over the weekend, in which he questioned the conduct of the Chief Justice.
According to Prof. Yankah, the Chief Justice in September ignored multiple judicial issues on his desk and strayed into state-owned enterprises, which was none of his formal business.
He said the Chief Justice in that engagement waxed political without apologies, comparing the high productivity of current staff to their dismal performance under the previous government.
“The incident was without precedence and courted anger and shock across the landscape: a rude awakening that Ghana’s scale of justice had been vandalized by the Chief himself, who then loses any moral authority to lead an independent judiciary,” Prof. Yankah wrote.
He recalled that in May 2026, the Chief Justice travelled to the US/Canada for the World Cup with a government delegation, and also joined government delegations to mourn with GoldBod CEO, Sammy Gyamfi, on the passing of his in-law, moves the former Minister said raised eyebrows.
He said when Justice Baffoe-Bonnie was appointed in 2025 to replace former Chief Justice Gertrude Torkonoo, whom he said was unfairly removed, questions were asked whether Ghana had exchanged its digital colour television for a black and white analogue. “The answer now blows in the wind,” he added.
Prof. Yankah said if a judge of the Supreme Court was revered in the past, with people stealing glances at them in public, the Chief Justice is now seen dancing at a thanksgiving service and joining government public relations.
He cited public reactions from social media to the latest incident, including comments that “The JDM boy has taken over Government PR”, “Judiciary independence is gone” and “He has won a political jersey… grounds for resignation”. “In truth, CJ’s venerable title as ‘Chief’ has faded too soon, leaving behind an impaired reputation and a tilted scale of justice,” Prof. Yankah stated.
