Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie has praised the performance of the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) and other public institutions under the current administration, saying some of the developments he has witnessed have left him wondering what Ghana was doing over the past eight years.

Speaking during a visit to MIIF on Wednesday, September 2, the Chief Justice said he had been impressed by what he had seen at the institution and what he had heard about the performance of other state entities.

He said a visit to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) earlier in the day had further reinforced his impression that some public institutions were now performing significantly better.

“I must congratulate you. I mean, you have done marvelously well. See, because sometimes when we hear the things that you have done, the things that some organisations are doing now, we wonder; some of us keep wondering what really we have been doing in the past eight years,” he said.

The Chief Justice said the information he received during his visit to SSNIT was particularly striking, especially against the backdrop of previous plans involving some of the institution’s assets.

“We've just come back from SSNIT, we went to SSNIT this morning, and the kind of things that we heard, and we hear, we even heard before we went there, what we were told, 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,” he added.

His comments amount to a strong endorsement of the performance of public institutions under the current government and an implicit comparison between the present administration and the previous eight-year period under the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

The remarks have generated debate because of the constitutional position occupied by the Chief Justice and the Judiciary’s obligation to maintain independence from the executive and political parties.

A judiciary under scrutiny

The timing and context of the comments are particularly significant given the controversy that surrounded Justice Baffoe-Bonnie’s elevation to the country’s highest judicial office.

He became Acting Chief Justice in April 2025 after President John Dramani Mahama suspended then-Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo following the determination of a prima facie case against her and the commencement of an Article 146 process. Justice Baffoe-Bonnie was the most senior Justice of the Supreme Court at the time and therefore assumed the acting position.

President Mahama subsequently nominated him as substantive Chief Justice in September 2025 following Mrs Torkornoo’s removal from office. Parliament approved his nomination in November by 163 votes to 69, after a contentious process in which the NPP Minority raised objections and ultimately boycotted his vetting.

The Minority argued that the appointment process should not proceed while legal challenges to Mrs Torkornoo’s removal were still pending. It also raised concerns about Justice Baffoe-Bonnie’s involvement in Supreme Court proceedings connected to the removal process and what it described as a potential conflict of interest.

Justice Baffoe-Bonnie, however, rejected suggestions that his elevation was politically motivated. During his vetting, he defended his record and said his career progression was based on merit and long service. He also pledged to provide bipartisan leadership and uphold judicial independence.