By King Amoah
The recent remarks attributed to Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, questioning what Ghana had been doing over the past eight years after praising the performance of institutions such as SSNIT and the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF), deserve serious public scrutiny, as Sunyani– based concerned Npp activist Hon Isaiah Ibrahim has disclosed.
According to him the issue is not whether the Chief Justice is entitled to his personal observations as a Ghanaian citizen, but the concern is the office that he occupies and the political meaning that his words inevitably carry.
Hon Ibrahim noted that when the head of Judiciary publicly contrasts the performance of state institutions under the current NDC administration with the preceding NPP eight-year period, it can easily be interpreted as a political assessment of one administration against another.
Indicating his opposition to the recent Chief Justice Isaiah Ibrahim cited that a legal Professor Kwaku Asare has also similarly cautioned that the wording could be perceived as partisan political commentary and potentially weakens confidence in judicial independence.
The Chief Justice is not an ordinary commentator, neither is he a political analyst nor a government spokesperson,
but he is the head of an arm of the government whose credibility depends fundamentally on neutrality, Ibrahim observed
He stressed that Ghana’s 1992 Constitution plainly establishes an independent Judiciary while Article 127 provides that the Judiciary, in exercising its judicial functions is subject only to the Constitution and is not to be subjected to the control or direction of any person or authority.
For that reason Isaiah Ibrahim a defeated Npp Sunyani East Communication Aspirant noted that the Chief Justice should be exceptionally careful about making statements that appear to endorse the achievements of one political administration while implicitly condemning the record of another.
His statement that one wonders what we really have been doing in the past eight years goes beyond merely acknowledging institutional improvements.
In Ghana’s highly polarised political environment, the obvious interpretation is that the previous administration failed while the current administration is succeeding, lbrahiim pointed out.
He said jmagine a Chief Justice publicly praising an NPP administration in the same manner while criticising an NDC administration would the NDC not reasonably question the neutrality of the Judiciary?
Would the citizens not begin wondering whether political considerations were influencing judicial attitudes Hon Ibrahim asked.
He remarried further that the same standard must apply regardless of which party is in power.
The Judiciary does not need to win political arguments. It’s iauthority comes from something much more important: the confidence of both government and opposition that justice will be administered without fear or favour, affection or ill-will.
The Judicial Oath itself requires judges to perform their functions without fear or favour, affection or ill-will and to uphold the Constitution and laws of Ghana.
The Chief Justice therefore ought to leave the evaluation of the NDC government’s performance to Parliament, political parties, economists, journalists, civil society and, ultimately, the Ghanaian electorate,he advised
Hon Ibrahim added that the Chief Justice responsibility is different. He must protect the institutional integrity of the Judiciary and ensure that the NDC, NPP and every Ghanaian citizen can approach the courts without wondering which political side the Chief Justice appears to favour.
Recent criticism from the NPP and other commentators reflects precisely on this concern about perceived neutrality.
Chief Justice Baffoe-Bonnie should therefore reconsider the wisdom of political comparisons. Ghana needs a Chief Justice who speaks for justice, the Constitution and the rule of law—not one whose public comments can be interpreted as speaking for or against a political administration, Ibrahiim concluded.
Attached images are Chief Justice and Ibrahim.
