Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has cautioned the Acting Chief Justice, Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, to come prepared for his vetting by the Appointments Committee of Parliament.
According to Afenyo-Markin, the minority have questions regarding the role played by Justice Baffoe-Bonnie in the sacking of former Chief Justice Torkornoo.
The minority leader further highlighted constitutional lapses surrounding the nomination and assumption of office by the Acting Chief Justice.
Speaking on the floor, Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin stated, “The one who has been nominated for the Chief Justice position must come prepared to earn the approval of the House.
If you come unprepared — you do not have your judgments, and we have questions about your involvement in your boss’s ‘sacking’ or concerns about how you have conducted yourself — you are required to answer. So, you have to prepare,” he cautioned.
The minority leader’s comments come after Alban Bagbin, the Speaker of Parliament, officially referred the nomination of Supreme Court Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie as Chief Justice to Parliament’s Appointments Committee.
On Tuesday, October 21, the Speaker, in a communication to Parliament, stated the House had received formal correspondence from the Presidency regarding the nomination.
The Speaker then forwarded the matter to the Appointments Committee for further action.
Speaker Bagbin’s referral comes at a time when Gertrude Torkornoo, the former Chief Justice, ran to court, filing a legal challenge to halt the vetting and appointment of Justice Baffoe-Bonnie as Ghana’s next Chief Justice.
The former Chief Justice, in her suit filed at the High Court, seeks to nullify all actions taken by the Justice Gabriel Scott Pwamang Committee, which was established to investigate petitions leading to her removal.
Gertrude Torkornoo is asking the court to declare the committee’s proceedings invalid and to nullify the Presidential Warrant that affected her removal from office.
According to a report, her application was filed through her lawyer, Kwabena Adu-Kusi, on Thursday, October 16, 2025, submitted two reports to support her legal challenge.
One of the reports from a committee chaired by Justice Dr Owusu-Dapaa, and the other from the National Signals Bureau.
In both reports, Francis Baiden was identified as a Judicial Service staff member in charge of the e-Justice system, as the prime suspect in the tampering of judicial documents.
She argued that it is illogical to remove her from office for transferring Biden after evidence showed he was involved in tampering with documents in the Gyakye Quayson case.
Torkornoo, in her suit, also points out that Justice Baffoe-Bonnie transferred judges when he became Acting Chief Justice, which she claimed was unfair that her transfer decision is being treated as a removable offence while similar actions by Baffoe-Bonnie were not questioned.
President John Mahama 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 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.