Chief Justice Baffoe‑Bonnie visited the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) on Wednesday, 2 September, where he praised the fund’s performance and other state‑run bodies. He noted that the progress he witnessed made him wonder what Ghana had been doing over the preceding eight years, adding, “I must congratulate you. I mean, you have done marvellously well.”
After touring the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), the Chief Justice remarked he was impressed by the institution’s performance, contrasting it with earlier plans to sell SSNIT assets such as Labadi Beach Hotel. He said, “If you compare that to the fact that not too long ago, SSNIT was preparing to sell its prized assets like Labadi Beach Hotel, you wonder how Ghana could have sunk so low.”
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has responded that the Chief Justice’s comments could give the impression that the judiciary is advancing the executive’s political agenda. The party warned that a Chief Justice owes an oath to the Constitution, not to any president or party, and that any deviation would undermine the judiciary’s independence. The NPP cited recent “vacation warrants” and the imprisonment of its Ashanti Regional Chairman, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, as evidence of unequal treatment under the current judicial system.
In a statement, the NPP said it would resist any attempt to turn courts into instruments of political persecution and promised to present a “full record” of the Chief Justice’s conduct at a forthcoming press conference.
