Amidu accuses Chief Justice Baffoe-Bonnie of acting as a surrogate for President Mahama

Pinned summary · as of 17:23

Mr Amidu, who once served as Attorney-General and Special Prosecutor, has publicly charged the Chief Justice, Paul Kwadwo Baffoe-Bonnie, with doing the bidding of President John Dramani Mahama. In his telling, this is the executive reaching into the Judiciary. The reports carry no response from the Chief Justice.

What we know

• Mr Amidu, a former Attorney-General and Special Prosecutor, publicly accused Chief Justice Baffoe-Bonnie of acting as a surrogate for President Mahama.
• Mr Amidu characterised the alleged arrangement as the executive trying to exert influence over the Judiciary. This is his view, and it has not been established.

What's disputed / unconfirmed

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  The Custodian reported that Mr Amidu accuses the government of using constitutional procedures in the petitions against former Chief Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Torkornoo to recruit and control the Judiciary for a reform agenda he says was set before the 7 December 2024 elections. No other report has confirmed this.
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  According to The Custodian, Mr Amidu alleges that Justice Baffoe-Bonnie had a personal stake in the petitions to remove Mrs Justice Torkornoo, since he stood next in line for her post. He also alleges that the judge placed himself on most of the panels hearing related applications, and fast-tracked interim applications while the main suits waited until after her removal. These claims are Mr Amidu's alone.
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  Mr Amidu also claims, as reported by The Custodian, that the Chief Justice owes his post to the government-controlled Council of State, that he is the sole remaining Supreme Court judge from the five who formed the majority in the 2013 election petition, and that his family and the President's have grown close. The Custodian carries no response from the Chief Justice.
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  The Custodian reported that Mr Amidu says the Chief Justice told half-truths on oath at his parliamentary vetting, when he said he had been promoted under presidents from different governments and cut across political boundaries. Mr Amidu ties his earlier career moves to family networks linked to an elder brother's NDC connections. He also says that Justice Baffoe-Bonnie departed from the practice of past Chief Justices who stepped aside from cases touching a sitting Chief Justice.
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  The Custodian quoted the Chief Justice as telling staff of the Minerals Income Investment Fund on 2 September 2026 that the President's agenda would be good for Ghana and everyone should help it succeed. Mr Amidu says those remarks led him to ask whether lessons had been learnt from the earlier removal of a Chief Justice.
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  Mr Amidu, per The Custodian, says he backed the process that removed Mrs Justice Torkornoo because he judged it consistent with the letter of the Constitution. He also says the Constitution is at risk when a Chief Justice becomes an arm of the executive, and he alleges that the President's reset agenda for the Judiciary breaches its constitutional independence. He further alleges that an earlier government under President John Agyekum Kufuor forced Chief Justice Isaac Kobina Abban to resign under threat of impeachment.
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  The Custodian set out a sequence of events: petitions against Mrs Justice Torkornoo first filed on 14 February 2025, three petitions sent to the Council of State, her suspension by the President on 22 April 2025, and a five-member committee under Supreme Court Justice Gabriel Scott Pwamang to investigate her. It also reported that Justice Baffoe-Bonnie became acting Chief Justice on 23 April 2025, with President Mahama naming him to the substantive post on 17 November 2025. Only this report gives these details.
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  The Custodian reported that the Supreme Court, with Justice Baffoe-Bonnie presiding, turned down several applications in May 2025 connected with the removal process, including one by Mrs Justice Torkornoo herself, which it dismissed unanimously on 28 May. The other dismissals came on 6, 20 and 21 May by majorities of three to two or four to one. This has not been confirmed by other reports.

Why it matters for Ghana

The Chief Justice heads the Judiciary, and the courts decide disputes that affect citizens, businesses and public officials across Ghana. An accusation that the post is being used to serve the President goes to public confidence in whether judges act independently. The claims are one person's allegations so far, and readers in Accra, Kumasi and elsewhere will be watching for a reply from the Chief Justice or the Presidency.