President John Mahama has named His Lordship Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie as the new Chief Justice of Ghana.
The announcement was made on Tuesday, September 23, by the Minister of Government Communication, Felix Kwakye Ofosu.
Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, the most senior Supreme Court judge, was appointed by President Mahama to act as Chief Justice during the investigation process of sacked CJ Torkornoo.
He is now confirmed as the substantive head of the judiciary after he was nominated by John Mahama.
Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie was appointed to the Supreme Court in June 2008 by then-President John Agyekum Kufuor and is among the most senior justices of the apex court.
Justice Baffoe-Bonnie is now expected to be vetted as Chief Justice by parliament before his swearing-in as Ghana’s next Chief Justice.
His appointment follows. President John Mahama sacking the Chief Justice, Her Ladyship Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo, from office with immediate effect after he received a first report from the five-member committee he constituted to investigate three petitions brought against the Chief Justice.
Hours after President Mahama received the committee reports, Chief Justice Torkornoo was sacked with immediate effect.
A statement from the presidency stated, “President John Dramani Mahama has, in accordance with Article 146(9) of the 1992 Constitution, removed the Chief Justice, Her Ladyship Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo, from office with immediate effect”.
“This follows receipt of the report of the Committee constituted under Article 146(6) to inquire into a petition submitted by a Ghanaian citizen, Mr. Daniel Ofori. After considering the petition and the evidence, the Committee found that the grounds of stated misbehaviour under Article 146(1) had been established and recommended her removal from office.
“Under Article 146(9), the President is required to act in accordance with the Committee’s recommendation,” the statement concluded.
Meanwhile, Kofi Bentil, a private legal practitioner, has claimed President John Dramani Mahama cannot appoint a new Chief Justice, following the removal of former Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo.
Lawyer Bentil noted that there are still about four suits challenging the removal of Justice Torkornoo, which must be decided before Mahama can appoint a new Chief Justice.
According to Kofi Bentil, President Mahama cannot break the law in trying to fulfil the law.
Speaking on TV3 New Day, on September 18, 2025, Kofi Bentil argued, “I have heard people saying that there should be a new appointment of a CJ (Chief Justice) … It is wrong. When you have legal processes ongoing, the parties must all be heard. You can’t break the law in trying to fulfil the law.
The proper thing for us to do is for all citizens to insist that the president does what is respectful and subject to the law, to the effect that the processes must be exhausted”.
He added, “It is important to know that she is attacking the procedure. I keep saying that you may think that, why is she doing this … it is good for us, whether she wins or she loses. It is good for us to exhaust the process.
“And please, let us all learn this fact: if you are in public office and you are wrongly removed, you have a right to be reinstated. These are all principles. When we state these principles, we don’t state them because of a particular personality”, he said.
See the statement below:
