Parliament has approved Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie as the Chief Justice of Ghana following his vetting by the Appointments Committee of Parliament on Monday, November 10.
His approval on Thursday, November 13, comes after the Committee, by a majority decision, recommended the adoption of the report on the vetting of Justice Baffoe-Bonnie as Chief Justice.
“The Committee therefore recommends to the House by majority decision the adoption of the report of the approval of Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie as Chief Justice of the Republic of Ghana,” the Chairman, Bernard Ahiafor, said.
Presenting the Committee’s report to Parliament on Thursday, he stated that the nominee was approved upon careful deliberation.
Paul Kwadwo Baffoe-Bonnie (born 26 December 1956) is a Ghanaian Supreme Court Judge. He is the Chief Justice of Ghana. He was nominated for the role of substantive Chief Justice on September 21, 2025.[1]
Early life and education
Baffoe-Bonnie was born on 26 December 1956.[2] His primary school education was 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 from 1969 to 1976. He then attended the University of Ghana and later the Ghana Law School.[3]
In law school, he was room-mates with NPP politician, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie and very good friends with former Chief Justice of Ghana, Kwasi Anin-Yeboah, he referred to the three of them forming “a trio of village law students”.[4]
Career
Baffoe-Bonnie was called to the Bar in Ghana in 1983.[5] He worked as a Circuit Court Judge at Kumasi. He served as High Court Judge at Duayaw Nkwanta. He was appointed an Appeals Court judge in 2006.[6] He was appointed a Supreme Court Judge by the President of Ghana John Kufuor in June 2008.[7]
Election petition
In 2013, Baffoe-Bonnie was on the panel of Supreme Court Judges who ruled against a petition brought before it where the New Patriotic Party asked for about four million votes to be scrapped for alleged tampering in the 2012 Ghanaian general election.[8][9]
Personal life
Baffoe-Bonnie’s parents are Opanyin Baffoe-Bonnie from Sewua in the Bosomtwe district and Ama Kyerewaa from Breman in Kumasi.[3]
Baffoe-Bonnie is married to Patience Baffoe-Bonnie.[10] Kwasi Sainti Baffoe-Bonnie, who owned Network Broadcasting Company Limited which run Radio Gold FM in Ghana, was his brother.[11]
Appointment as Acting Chief Justice
Baffoe-Bonnie was appointed to serve as acting Chief Justice of Ghana following the suspension of Gertrude Torkornoo on April 23. Baffoe-Bonnie stepped in because of his seniority on the Supreme Court Bench. His appointment and vetting which the parliament of Ghana is constitutionallly mandated was challenged by the removed chief Justice on 16th October 2025 alleging that her removal was unconstitutional and that the findings of the committee were “irrational,absurd and pervers in the Wednesbury sense” [12]
Before joining the bench, Justice Baffoe-Bonnie built a strong foundation in law and public administration. He completed his national service with the Ghana United Nations Association (GUNA) and the World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA) in 1981–1982, and later taught in Oyo State, Nigeria (1982–1984). Returning to Ghana, he practised law with ESSWINT Chambers in Sekondi and later with Kejetia Chambers in Kumasi before entering public service.
He served as Deputy Superintendent of Prisons (1988–1990) and as Principal Inspector of Taxes at the Internal Revenue Service, where he headed the Legal Department for the Eastern and Volta Regions (1990–1992).
Justice Baffoe-Bonnie was appointed to the bench in 1993, beginning as a Circuit Court Judge at Duayaw Nkwanta in the Ahafo Region, before moving to Kumasi in 1995. His judicial career advanced steadily, with postings as High Court Judge in Sunyani (2000–2002), Kumasi (2002–2003), and on the Fast Track High Court in Accra (2003–2006). He was elevated to the Court of Appeal in 2006 and to the Supreme Court in 2008.
Leadership Roles
Justice Baffoe-Bonnie has held numerous leadership positions within the judiciary and in legal education. Since April 2025, he has served as Acting Chairperson of the General Legal Council, Acting Chairman of the Board of Legal Education, and Acting Chairman of the Judicial Council. He has also chaired the Disciplinary Committee of the General Legal Council, the Finance Committee of the Judicial Council, and the Election Management Committee of the Judicial Service.
Previously, he served as Secretary of the Association of Magistrates and Judges (2004–2006) and as the Chief Justice’s oversight representative for the Brong Ahafo, Western, and Central Regions between 2009 and 2013.
Professional Memberships
Justice Baffoe-Bonnie has been a member of the Ghana Bar Association (1983–1993) and remains an active member of the Association of Magistrates and Judges Ghana since 1992.
Conferences and Capacity Building
Internationally, he has participated in and moderated several high-level conferences, including sessions of the ECOWAS Court of Justice in Sierra Leone, The Gambia, and Cabo Verde, as well as global judicial conferences in Egypt, Morocco, India, Scotland, and the United States. Locally, he has served as a resource person for numerous training and orientation programmes for judges and magistrates, particularly on election laws and alternative dispute resolution.
Publications
Justice Baffoe-Bonnie has contributed significantly to Ghana’s legal literature on elections. He was part of the committee that produced the maiden edition of the Manual on Election Adjudication in 2008 and subsequent revisions in 2012, 2016, and 2020. In 2024, he chaired the committee that reviewed and published the comprehensive three-volume fifth edition.
Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie’s life and career reflect an unwavering dedication to public service, the law, and the strengthening of Ghana’s democratic institutions. His journey from Goaso to the apex of Ghana’s judiciary embodies resilience, commitment, and a lifelong pursuit of justice.
Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, born in Goaso in the Ahafo Region on 26 December 1956, is a distinguished Ghanaian jurist whose career spans more than four decades in law, public service, and the judiciary. He is the son of the late Joseph Maxwell Baffoe-Bonnie of Sewua in the Ashanti Region and Elizabeth Akosua Amponsah of Goaso in Ahafo.
Education
Justice Baffoe-Bonnie began his formal education at the Goaso R/C Primary and Middle Schools (1962–1969) before continuing at Konongo-Odumasi Secondary School from 1969 to 1976. He pursued undergraduate studies at the University of Ghana, Legon, graduating in 1979, and proceeded to the Ghana School of Law, where he trained from 1979 to 1981.
