The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has responded to Chief Justice His Lordship Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie after his comments on advancing President Mahama’s agenda went viral, telling him to either resign or join the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
In a press release dated September 3, 2026, the party raised issues with the Chief Justice’s comments, saying they prove he is an ally of the Government.
The party took particular issue with comparisons he made during his tour of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), in which he said the current NDC Government had managed SOEs better in its first year and a half than the previous administration did in eight years. The NPP said such a comment should never come from a Chief Justice.
“Let it be stated plainly: this is not the language of a Chief Justice. It is the language of a party propagandist, of a kind exclusively reserved for NDC communicators and serial callers, and it has no place whatsoever in the mouth of the head of Ghana’s Judiciary,” the party said.
The NPP described Justice Baffoe-Bonnie’s actions as a breach of Articles 125 and 127 of the Constitution, which “establish the Judiciary as an independent arm of government, subject to neither the control nor the direction of any person or authority,” and which bind the Chief Justice, by judicial oath, “to do justice to all manner of persons without fear or favour, affection or ill will.”
The party said its objection to the Chief Justice’s language does not exist in a vacuum. According to the NPP, the Chief Justice has been seen socializing with NDC figures, attending functions alongside them. They argued that a Chief Justice who is friendly with the Executive cannot fairly preside over cases brought by the Executive, since he will inevitably take a side.
“He has presented himself not as the impartial head of an independent Judiciary but as a leading member of the National Democratic Congress in judicial robes, and if political commentary is his true vocation, he should resign forthwith and formally take up membership of the NDC,” the party said.
Citing the Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) cases and the incarceration of NPP Chairman Bernard Antwi-Boasiako (Wontumi), the party alleged that the recent fast-tracking of cases including vacation trials is part of a broader plot to advance President Mahama’s agenda.
The party said it does “not joke with his declared vow.”
In the meantime, the NPP has served notice of a press conference at which it will announce its full position on the matter.
“The Judiciary belongs neither to the President, nor to the NDC, nor to the Chief Justice; it belongs to the people of Ghana, who are entitled under the Constitution to courts that are blind to politics,” the party said.