President of Africa Policy Lens (APL) Dr. George Domfe has slammed Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie over what it describes as partisan public comments on the performance of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), warning that the Chief Justice has crossed the line of judicial neutrality.
In a strongly-worded statement, Dr. George Domfe said the remarks by the Chief Justice – in which he touted the current performance of SOEs and made politically sensitive comparisons with the previous administration – have no place coming from the head of Ghana’s judiciary.
Dr. Domfe says the Chief Justice’s comments risk creating the impression that the judiciary has taken sides in a purely political and economic debate, thereby undermining public confidence in the impartiality of the courts.
“Given the central role of judicial independence in democratic governance, it is essential that judicial actors exercise caution in matters that could be interpreted as political commentary. A more restrained and context-sensitive approach may have helped preserve public confidence in the judiciary’s non-partisan character,” Dr. Domfe stated.
He also took issue with the substance of the Chief Justice’s economic assessment.
According to him, it is misleading for the Chief Justice to assess SOE performance based on contemporary financial outcomes alone when a significant proportion of those outcomes is driven by exchange rate movements, and not by genuine improvements in operational efficiency, productivity or managerial effectiveness.
The statement noted that such an approach conflates nominal financial gains with real institutional performance.
The same flaw, Dr. Domfe said, runs through the broader economic narrative being pushed by government communicators – including claims of nominal GDP growth from US$82 billion in 2024 to US$114 billion in 2025, improved GDP per capita and a reduced debt-to-GDP ratio.
“A substantial share of the reported improvements may reflect exchange rate effects rather than deep-seated structural reforms, productivity enhancements, or sustained growth in the real economy,” the APL President said, adding that the Chief Justice failed to subject these headline numbers to rigorous empirical scrutiny.
The APL President also warned that when the Chief Justice amplifies such nominal indicators without interrogating their real drivers, it creates an overly optimistic impression of economic transformation while real productive capacity, jobs, incomes and living standards remain strained.
He stressed that in a constitutional democracy, the judiciary is expected to be the ultimate arbiter of neutrality – not a cheerleader for government statistics.
“When economic achievements are presented without adequate consideration of their underlying drivers and limitations, there is a risk that public debate becomes centred on political narratives rather than informed analysis,” Dr. Domfe noted.
He added that public trust in the judiciary is enhanced only when its commentary is grounded in rigorous evidence rather than partisan considerations, insisting that Ghana’s democracy depends as much on the credibility and independence of its institutions as on economic performance.
“The Chief Justice must demonstrate institutional restraint. The strength of our democracy rests on the judiciary staying above the political fray,” he said.