Justice Baffoe-Bonnie ‘missing’ in Kumasi

Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, a member of the Supreme Court panel that sat on the election petition, was missing in action when his daughter graduated from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology as a medical doctor last Saturday in Kumasi.

News had spread like wild fire across Kumasi that Justice Baffoe-Bonnie would grace the occasion in support of his dear daughter.

This information drew a sizeable number of curious people to the auditorium of the Social Sciences Faculty where graduands from the KNUST Medical School were taking the Hippocratic Oath to officially enter the medical profession.

The huge crowd, including students and people from all walks of life, were at the function ostensibly to catch a glimpse of the ‘celebrated judge’ whose name was on the lips of most of the people before the function started.

In the end, these curious people were disappointed, as Justice Baffoe-Bonnie was nowhere to be found though his name was mentioned as one of the dignitaries present at the event.

The MC for the big occasion, Solomon Panford, a deputy Registrar, College of Agriculture, whilst mentioning the names of the important dignitaries present, mentioned the name of Baffoe-Bonnie, but the Supreme Court judge did not stand up to be given a warm welcome.

Immediately Justice Baffoe-Bonnie’s name was mentioned, people at the event were seen craning their necks to catch a glimpse of him, but to their surprise, the man did not stand up.

This suddenly generated some murmurings; and the debate as to whether or not Justice Baffoe-Bonnie was present at the function prolonged even to the latter part of the event.

The people still did not understand what would prevent Justice Baffoe-Bonnie, if indeed he was present, from showing his face for the people to welcome him officially as the other dignitaries did.

Meanwhile, Mr. Panford, a senior official of KNUST, has debunked assertions that Justice Baffoe-Bonnie was present at the function and that he was even hooted at by the crowd when his name was mentioned.

He told the paper that Justice Baffoe-Bonnie’s name was among the list of dignitaries present, which he mentioned so special welcome would be accorded them before the programme started.

Mr. Panford said he mentioned the name of Justice Baffoe-Bonnie alright, but he did not see him standing up, so he was surprised that people were speculating that the judge was embarrassed at the event.

According to him, when he mentioned Justice Baffoe-Bonnie’s name, he paused for a while, thinking that the man would rise to his feet for the crowd to welcome him appropriately; but he did not see him stand up.

He said the auditorium was silent when Justice Baffoe-Bonnie’s name was called “and I did not hear anybody hooting at him so I continued mentioning the names of other dignitaries present.”

Mr. Panford said even as the MC of the programme, he did not set his eyes on Justice Baffoe-Bonnie from where he stood, so he could not confirm or deny whether the top judge indeed graced the event.

Controversy

Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports reaching DAILY GUIDE indicate that Justice Baffoe-Bonnie became a victim of incessant hooting at the KNUST where he attended the graduation ceremony of his daughter.

Some students at the university reportedly hooted at the Supreme Court Justice immediately they set eyes on him at the function, temporarily disrupting the programme.

The reports said it took the intervention of one the lecturers at the university for the massive hooting by the charged students to subside.

But Mr. Panford said there was no iota of truth in the reports, saying, “If indeed such a thing happened, then I bet you it did not happen in the auditorium. It is not true.”

Critics

Justice Baffoe-Bonnie is one of the nine Supreme Court justices that recently ruled on the 2012 election petition where President Mahama was confirmed as Ghana’s legitimately elected president.

His name has been on the lips of Kumasi residents who believed that he skewed the ruling in favour of NDC’s John Mahama.

Serial callers into radio shows in the city have openly castigated the Supreme Court Justice.

He is said to have travelled with five police bodyguards to Kumasi over the weekend for the graduation of his daughter.

Prior to Saturday’s event, there were contradictory reports in town with some stating that Justice Baffoe-Bonnie would attend the function, while others said he would not dare show up.

But unconfirmed reports said on the day of the ceremony, Justice Baffoe-Bonnie arrived at the event grounds quietly, so the expectant students and other dignitaries present could not notice his coming.

The students were said to have openly hooted at Justice Baffoe-Bonnie in a manner that was unpleasant.

Sources said Justice Baffoe-Bonnie initially thought the massive shouts were a sign of cordial welcome for him at the event; but he later learnt that the incessant shouts from some of the students were not amiable.