Chief Justice is the wrong person to make such comments – Dr. Jabir Mohammed

Economist and Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana Business School, Dr. Jabir Mohammed, has said Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie was the wrong person to comment on the performance of state-owned enterprises (SOEs).

The comments come after the Chief Justice was criticised for remarks he made 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 an impressive turnaround compared to the previous administration.

He also 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 remarks have since triggered debate over whether they were appropriate for the head of the Judiciary, with critics arguing that they could create an impression of political bias.

According to Dr. Mohammed, although the Chief Justice may have been speaking about facts, his position as head of the Judiciary requires him to be cautious about making statements that could be interpreted as political.

Speaking on JoyNews’ AM Show on Friday, September 4, Dr. Mohammed said the Chief Justice could have made his observations without linking the performance of state institutions to a particular political administration.

“He spoke the truth at the wrong place because he’s not the person who is supposed to have spoken that,” Dr. Mohammed said.

Dr. Mohammed said the Chief Justice’s comments could become problematic if cases involving the government or the opposition later come before the courts.

He explained that parties to such cases could interpret judicial decisions through the lens of the Chief Justice’s previous political-sounding comments, potentially affecting public confidence in the Judiciary.

“Because as a Chief Justice, you are justice for everybody. If you make that kind of statement, and any court case goes against an opposition party, they will see that to be like because you were appointed by this particular government,” he said.

Dr. Mohammed, however, disagreed with calls for the Chief Justice to resign over the remarks.

He said the appropriate response would be for the Chief Justice to retract the statement and acknowledge that, although the facts may have been correct, the comments were made in an inappropriate context.