Meet the Acting Chief Justice
Following the suspension of Chief Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo, the most senior judge on the bench, Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, has assumed the role of Acting Chief Justice.
This development follows President John Mahama’s decision—made in consultation with the Council of State and in accordance with Article 146(6) of the Constitution—that there is sufficient basis to proceed with three petitions filed against Chief Justice Torkornoo.
Justice Baffoe-Bonnie will temporarily lead the judiciary until a substantive Chief Justice is appointed.
This transition is in line with the Constitution of Ghana, which mandates that the most senior Justice of the Supreme Court assume leadership in the absence of the Chief Justice.
Profile of the Acting Chief Justice, Paul Baffoe-Bonnie
Early Life and Education
Paul Baffoe-Bonnie was born on 26 December 1956. He began his education at the Goaso Local Authority Primary and Middle Schools, completing his Middle School Leaving Certificate examinations in the late 1960s.
He attended Konongo Odumase Secondary School, where he obtained his GCE Ordinary Level and GCE Advanced Level certificates between 1969 and 1976. He proceeded to the University of Ghana and subsequently the Ghana School of Law.
While at law school, he was roommates with the late former NPP General Secretary Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, popularly known as Sir John, and close friends with former Chief Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah. He fondly described the three of them as forming “a trio of village law students.”
Legal Career
Justice Baffoe-Bonnie was called to the Bar in Ghana in 1983. He began his judicial career as a Circuit Court Judge in Kumasi and later served as a High Court Judge in Duayaw Nkwanta. He was appointed to the Court of Appeal in 2006.
In June 2008, President John Agyekum Kufuor appointed him as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana.
Notable Case
In 2013, he was part of the panel of Supreme Court Judges that adjudicated the landmark election petition filed by the New Patriotic Party (NPP), which sought to annul approximately four million votes from the 2012 general elections due to alleged irregularities. The petition was ultimately dismissed by the court.
Personal Life
Justice Baffoe-Bonnie hails from Sewua in the Bosomtwe District through his father, Opanyin Baffoe-Bonnie, and from Breman in Kumasi through his mother, Ama Kyerewaa.
He is married to Mrs. Patience Baffoe-Bonnie, who serves as the Director-General of Prisons.
He is also the brother of the late Kwasi Sainti Baffoe-Bonnie, the founder of Network Broadcasting Company Limited, which operates Radio Gold.
