The Chief Justice’s position in the administration of justice is special and almost sacrosanct, the failure or success of the judiciary depending upon his performance.
Being an arm of government and in accordance with the dictates of the principle of separation of powers under a democracy, the judiciary must operate independent of the executive. Being a fundamental ingredient of democracy, any breach thereof is considered a moral sacrilege and therefore condemnable and can lead to impeachment.
The office of the Chief Justice should be spared by all means anything which can cause it opprobrium or even reduce confidence in it by sane Ghanaians.
Perhaps this is the reason members of the bench are hardly noticed at social functions; their presence, if at all, deliberately hushed.
Of course being members of the communities in which they were born and raised, which presupposes that they partake in social events such as weddings and funerals inter alia, these must be measured. When they show up at such functions, they must not be seen to be engaging in segments of the programmes which could affect the respect they must command by virtue of the positions they hold on the bench.
Being measured in their remarks at such functions is of paramount importance, and this our Chief Justice Baffoe-Bonnie, we can bet, knows more than most of us the ‘non-learned’ persons in society.
We observed recently however that the Chief Justice while doing the assignment of the ‘old man’, he was carried away in his remarks which saddened us. It was unusual to do what he did, making political remarks, but we concluded that being human he could have been overly excited in performing his non-judicial duties for the ‘old man.’
We wish he did not embark upon the project advancing the cause of the ‘old man.’ Indeed, the unusualness in doing so was what prompted the assortment of reactions which he alluded to in a recent public speech. Now that he has made a public announcement that he would no longer make extempore speeches, we are excited and pray that he keeps to his word.
In a pluralised politicised system, especially one dominated by National Democratic Congress (NDC) and New Patriotic Party (NPP) politics, special personalities in society such as the Chief Justice and others along the justice administration chain are enjoined to be circumspect in their utterances.
Even if those in these occupations decide regardless about the infractions thereof to undertake the assignments of those who played a role in their appointments, they must do so with a modicum of finesse lest they come under public scrutiny and avoidable queries.
Let him live by his word even as he continues to tread the path of a reset judiciary and, for that matter, Ghana.