Like many Ghanaians across the country, we were dumbfounded when we saw an image of a person who resembled Chief Justice Baffoe-Bonnie subtly heaping plaudits on the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and doing the contrary for their predecessors. It was a disturbing exercise in political chicanery by a Chief Justice, the first in the history of this country, pre and post-independenceIn his oration, he wondered why in the past eight years much was not done but under the NDC, in less than two years, so much has been covered.
He almost doffed his hat for the NDC whose reset agenda exalted him to the highest office in the judiciary. We thought that whoever generated the choreograph had done a great disservice to the Chief Justice and to justice delivery in this country given the negative impact it would have on this arm of government.
It was a comparative analysis which should have been presented by an NDC propaganda secretary. We thought it could be an Artificial Intelligence (AI) generated presentation, but so many hours after the despicable presentation and no disclaimer coming from the highly learned gentleman, we are constrained to dispel our doubt.
The man who said for the past years the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) performance pales in the face of the NDC’s was our own Chief Justice Baffoe-Bonnie. It is for good reasons that members of the bench are placed in an exalted position in society; the Your Worship, Your Ladyship and the My Lords are part of the compliments enjoyed by these special personalities.
They are expected also to be apolitical in their dealings, although being Ghanaians they too have their political lineages and so vote for their preferences during elections.
They should not become socialite just so the positions they hold are not compromised.
For the first time in the history of the judiciary, the office has been debased so badly that without an emergency treatment to reverse the so-called reset agenda, the remaining iota of deference attached to the skeleton of the judiciary would be lost. Even before this stage, certain questionable judgments have been served which have impacted on the deference of this arm of government.
The judiciary has been shaken to its foundation and it would take concerted efforts of a new government to restore the respect it deserves to perform its functions of adjudication without fear or favour.
What business has the Chief Justice got to do with visiting government establishments and to be showering praises upon them ‘for jobs well done’ when he could be visiting the over hundred court complexes built by former President Akufo-Addo?