The Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference has cautioned political actors against turning the controversy surrounding Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie’s recent comments into a broader political battle over the independence of Ghana’s Judiciary.
The Conference said although some of the Chief Justice’s remarks during visits to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) and the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) could create concerns about the appearance of impartiality, they did not amount to sufficient evidence that the Judiciary had been compromised.
The Bishops were responding to a demand by the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) for the Chief Justice to resign over comments he made during the engagements.
In a statement issued on Sunday, September 6, 2026, the Conference said the Chief Justice was within his rights to visit public institutions, assess their performance and acknowledge improvements recorded under the current administration.
However, it acknowledged that his reference to the “past eight years” was problematic because of Ghana’s political context.
According to the Bishops, the remark could be interpreted as a comparison between the performance of the current government and its predecessor, thereby giving an otherwise administrative assessment a political dimension.
The Conference said such remarks could affect public perception of the Judiciary, particularly because the Chief Justice occupies an office that requires a high degree of neutrality and public confidence.
It also took note of concerns raised by the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) that the comments could create an impression of political endorsement and potentially undermine confidence in judicial impartiality.
Despite these concerns, the Bishops said they accepted the Judicial Service’s explanation that the Chief Justice’s comments were made in good faith and were not intended to undermine judicial independence.
“We receive that clarification in good faith,” the Conference stated.
The Bishops stressed that judicial independence goes beyond the actual conduct of judges and institutions, arguing that public confidence also depends on how judicial conduct is perceived.
“Judicial independence is not only a matter of actual impartiality; it also depends on the visible, unmistakable appearance of impartiality,” they said.
Nevertheless, the Conference rejected the NPP’s demand for the Chief Justice’s resignation, describing it as disproportionate to the conduct in question.
The Bishops said the comments, considered on their own, did not establish that the Chief Justice was politically partisan or that the courts had been captured.
“Such conclusions would go well beyond the evidence available to us, and calls for his resignation on this basis alone strike us as disproportionate to the offence,” the Conference said.
The Bishops, however, urged the Chief Justice to exercise greater caution in his public engagements because of the sensitivity of his office.
They suggested that he could have commended improvements at SSNIT and MIIF without making comparisons between the records of successive governments.
The Conference also called for restraint from both sides of the political divide.
It cautioned the governing party against treating criticism of the Chief Justice as an attack on its record, while urging the opposition not to interpret his remarks as evidence that the Judiciary had been captured.
“The governing party ought not to treat criticism of the Chief Justice as an attack on its own record, nor should the opposition treat his remarks as proof that the courts have been captured,” the Bishops said.
They urged political parties, public officials and other stakeholders to protect confidence in Ghana’s democratic and judicial institutions irrespective of which political party is in power.
The Conference said the controversy should ultimately serve as a reminder that holders of high public office must remain conscious not only of their intentions but also of how their words and actions are perceived by the public.
