Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie will today Monday, November 17, 2025, will officially sworn in as Chief Justice by President John Dramani Mahama.
This follows parliament approval after his appearance at the appointments committee.
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.
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, a private citizen, identified as Gbande Nabin Yussif has has petitioned President John Dramani Mahama to sack the yet to be sworn in Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie.
In a petition signed by Gbande Nabin Yussif on October 6, 2025, the private citizen is pleading with President Mahama to sack the acting chief justice on the grounds of misbehaviour.
He references comments made by Paul Baffoe-Bonnie following a lawsuit filed by Israel Tetteh, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamokpor, and a group calling itself the Ghana Law Society.
Parts of Gbande Nabin Yussif’s comments read, “I respectfully submit this petition for the removal of Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, a Justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana and currently Acting Chief Justice, on the grounds of stated misbehaviour. Article 146(1) provides that: A Justice of the Superior Court or a Chairman of a Regional Tribunal shall not be removed from office except for stated misbehaviour or incompetence or on the ground of inability to perform the functions of his office arising from infirmity of body or mind.”
“The conduct of Justice Baffoe-Bonnie, as set out below, constitutes stated misbehaviour because it breaches multiple provisions of the Judicial Code of Conduct for Judges and Magistrates of Ghana, and offends internationally recognised principles of judicial behaviour such as the Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct (2002).
“The Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct have been endorsed by the United Nations as part of the global standards for judicial ethics and have been recognised as an inspiring literature in drawing up Ghana’s Judicial Code of Conduct”, part of the petition reads.
The petitioner noted that the acting CJ’s statement is a breach of multiple provisions of Ghana’s Judicial Code.