Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference calls for greater caution from Chief Justice

In brief

The Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference has advised Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie to exercise more caution in his public statements following controversial remarks made during recent visits to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust and the Minerals Income Investment Fund.

In a statement signed on September 6 by Msgr. Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, Bishop of Sunyani, the conference noted that while the Chief Justice should be careful, there are no grounds to demand his resignation. The controversy stems from comments Baffoe-Bonnie made on September 2 regarding the last eight years, which critics interpreted as a biased comparison between the current and previous political administrations.

The bishops stated that judicial independence requires not only actual impartiality but also the visible appearance of it. They noted that the head of the judiciary must remain above partisan political struggles. While acknowledging that the Chief Justice is entitled to his own convictions as a citizen, the conference expressed concern that his public conduct should not create reasonable doubt regarding his political neutrality.