Analyst urges Ghana’s Chief Justice Baffoe-Bonnie to apologize
In Ghana, political analyst Bernard Tutu-Boahene has called on Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie to retract his remarks about state-owned enterprises and apologize if he acknowledges his mistake. According to the analyst, this would not diminish the official’s authority and could strengthen respect for him, MyJoyOnline reports.
Speaking on the Nnawotwe Yi program on Adom TV, Tutu-Boahene said that Baffoe-Bonnie should assess his words in line with the rules governing his office. If the Chief Justice concludes that he made a mistake, nothing prevents him from publicly retracting the statements and apologizing, the analyst said.
Remarks about state institutions
The controversy arose after remarks made by Baffoe-Bonnie on September 2 during visits to the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) and the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT). He positively assessed the work of both institutions and asked what Ghana had been doing over the past eight years.
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Tutu-Boahene noted that chief justices, judicial services, and lawyers around the world are guided by the Bangalore Principles, which concern impartiality and proper conduct. According to him, Baffoe-Bonnie, as a citizen of Ghana, has the right to express his views, but making such statements publicly given his position was inappropriate.
Judicial Service reaction
The analyst also criticized the response of Ghana’s Judicial Service. It said that Baffoe-Bonnie’s words were made in good faith and were not intended to undermine the independence of the judiciary. In Tutu-Boahene’s view, this response appeared defensive; instead, the service should have emphasized its commitment to justice, truth, and the law.
The analyst linked the incident to the broader issue of political neutrality among officials in Ghana. He recalled that Article 276 of the 1992 Constitution prohibits chiefs from participating in partisan politics, while public servants also face restrictions on active political activity. Tutu-Boahene called on the heads of state institutions to observe the rules defining the limits of their public statements.
