Chief Justice should apologise and go on early retirement over his political commentary — Barker-Vormawor

Activist and legal practitioner Oliver Barker-Vormawor has called on Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie to apologise and consider early retirement over comments he made about the performance of state institutions.

His comments come amid increasing criticism over remarks by the Chief Justice during a working visit to the Mineral Income Investment Fund (MIIF) on Wednesday, September 2.

The Chief Justice had commended MIIF for what he described as its impressive turnaround compared to the previous administration.

He said the performance of some state institutions under the current administration had made him question what had been done over the previous eight years.

The comments have attracted criticism from sections of the public who argue that the reference to the previous eight years carries a political undertone and could create an impression of bias on the part of the head of the Judiciary.

Reacting to this in a social media post on Thursday, Barker-Vormawor noted that the Chief Justice’s position requires him to exercise restraint in making public comments that could be interpreted as political.

“Some truths are not for Judges to say. I recommend an apology and early retirement,” he wrote.

The sentiment by Barker-Vormawor has also been reiterated by several social commentators who also deem the Chief Justice's comment an affront to judicial independence.

On his part, legal practitioner and social commentator Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare, popularly known as Kwaku Azar, urged the Chief Justice to exercise restraint in his public commentary on government performance.

Also commenting on the development, a Co-chair of the Ghana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GHEITI), Dr Steve Manteaw, argued that an arbiter must keep personal views and preferences private to preserve confidence in judicial impartiality.

Meanwhile, the 69-year-old Chief Justice is set to go on retirement in December 2026.