‘It’s problematic’ – Kwesi Pratt fires Chief Justice over praising government

Kwesi Pratt Jnr is Managing Editor of the Insight Newspaper

The Managing News Editor of the Insight Newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr, has pointed to one thing he believes a Chief Justice, whether past or present, should avoid doing publicly.

According to him, a Chief Justice publicly praising a sitting government for its policies or how they are being implemented could raise questions about the judge’s impartiality.

Speaking on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana on September 16, 2026, the veteran journalist said it would be problematic for any Chief Justice to mount a public platform and praise a sitting government.

“Let’s be frank, if a Chief Justice mounts a platform and praises a government for its policies, it’s problematic,” he said.

“Any Chief Justice, whether in the past or present, mounts a platform and starts praising a sitting government for its policies, the manner in which the policies have been implemented and so on, it’s problematic,” he stated.

He further argued that the concern would be more serious if a Chief Justice were to encourage citizens to support a particular political party or government.

“If a Chief Justice urges the population to act in favour of a particular political party or a particular government, it is problematic,” he added.

Kwesi Pratt explained that Chief Justices have significant responsibilities and preside over cases that may involve government institutions and officials.

He said if a Chief Justice were perceived as protecting a particular administration or people within it, questions could arise about his or her fairness.

“Now, if a Chief Justice is minded to protect a certain administration or certain persons within a certain administration so that they can continue in office, his fairness is called into question or her fairness is called into question, no doubt at all,” he said.

He, however, acknowledged that judges, including the Chief Justice, have personal political views and participate in elections.

“It does not mean that those who sit on the bench do not have views. They vote in elections. Election Day, they vote, their preferences, but those preferences need to be kept to themselves,” he said.

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“Some would argue that that is perhaps a manifestation of inherent hypocrisy. But that’s the situation we are supposed to deal with. At least our laws need to make sense,” he added.

The comments follow remarks made by Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie during a visit to the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) on Wednesday, September 2, 2026.

During the visit, the Chief Justice praised MIIF and other public institutions under the current administration and spoke about developments he had witnessed under the government.

He said some of the developments had left him wondering what Ghana had been doing over the previous eight years.

** See the video below: **

Any Chief Justice who does this is problematic – Kwesi Pratt #GoodMorningGhana #MetroTV pic.twitter.com/IonNfhgMdv

— Metro TV Ghana (@metrotvgh) September 16, 2026

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