Justice Baffoe-Bonnie only stopped short chanting party slogan – Prof Kwesi Yankah on SOE remarks 

Former Minister of State in charge of Tertiary Education, Professor Kwesi Yankah has criticised Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie over his recent remarks on the performance of some state-owned enterprises (SOEs).

The comments follow remarks made by the Chief Justice during his working visits to SSNIT and MIIF on Wednesday, September 2.

Justice Baffoe-Bonnie had commended MIIF for what he described as an impressive turnaround compared to the previous administration and questioned what had been done over the previous eight years.

His comments have since triggered public debate over whether it was appropriate for the head of the Judiciary to make political comparisons, with critics arguing that the remarks could create an impression of political bias.

Reacting to this in a statement via social media on Sunday, September 6, Prof Yankah argued that the remarks had raised serious questions about the Chief Justice’s ability to maintain the perception of impartiality expected of the head of the Judiciary.

“Here, CJ waxed political without apologies. He stunned his audience, comparing the high productivity of current staff, to their dismal performance in the previous Government now in opposition. Justice Baffoe-Bonnie only stopped short chanting a party slogan,” he wrote.

Prof Yankah, a former Pro Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, said the incident represented a significant departure from the traditional perception of the Chief Justice as a figure above partisan political contests.

He said the controversy had affected the reputation of the office and questioned whether the Chief Justice still retained the moral authority to lead an independent Judiciary.

“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 said.

He also referenced previous public activities involving the Chief Justice, including his participation in a government delegation to the United States and Canada during the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

According to Prof Yankah, those activities had raised eyebrows, although he acknowledged that there was nothing inherently wrong with the Chief Justice participating in such engagements.

He said the latest comments, however, represented “the last straw” because the Chief Justice had entered an area he considered outside his formal judicial responsibilities.