NPP warns of risk of losing trust in Ghana’s judiciary
Ghana’s New Patriotic Party (NPP) has said that, in its view, the chief justice’s potentially partisan conduct could undermine public trust in the judiciary. The opposition party stressed that the head of the judicial branch must demonstrate political neutrality, particularly when courts are hearing politically sensitive cases involving opposition representatives.
Comments during visits to institutions
According to MyJoyOnline, Chief Justice Baffoe-Bonnie visited the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) on September 2. He positively assessed the work of the fund and other state institutions and said that some of the changes he saw made him wonder what Ghana had been doing over the previous eight years.
Before that, Baffoe-Bonnie visited the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) and said that he was impressed by the information provided to him about the institution’s work. Referring to previous plans to sell SSNIT assets, including the Labadi Beach Hotel, he said this raises questions about how Ghana could have found itself in such a situation.
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NPP’s position
The NPP believes that the chief justice’s comparison of the current National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration’s work with that of the previous NPP government calls the independence of the judiciary into question. The party also referred to what it said was his statement of commitment to President John Dramani Mahama’s agenda.
The NPP noted that not only actual independence but also public perception of the judicial system’s impartiality is important. The party called on the chief justice to withdraw the statements it described as partisan, as well as the commitment to support the president’s agenda that it mentioned. The NPP said that otherwise, concerns over the judiciary’s independence and authority would intensify.
