Chief Justice urges Ashanti Region students to pair academic success with integrity
- Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie addressed students at a Justice Clubs inauguration in the Ashanti Region.
- He said academic excellence should be developed alongside integrity, discipline and character.
- Newly elected student officers were urged to lead through service, fairness and personal example.
Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie has encouraged students in the Ashanti Region to place character, integrity and discipline at the centre of their education, saying academic achievement alone cannot produce responsible leaders.
He made the remarks during the inauguration of Justice Clubs and the swearing-in of newly elected student officers from senior high schools in the region.
Addressing students, teachers and other education stakeholders, the Chief Justice described the clubs as a means of helping young people understand the rule of law, civic responsibility and leadership. He told the newly elected officers that their roles, though held at school level, carried an obligation to serve their colleagues fairly and responsibly.
According to him, education provides knowledge, but character determines whether that knowledge is used constructively. He cautioned that ambition without integrity could be harmful and said schools should deliberately develop moral values alongside academic standards.
Justice Baffoe-Bonnie said leadership should be judged by conduct rather than title. Student leaders, he said, could influence their peers through honesty, discipline and respect in their daily actions.
He also urged students to think independently and remain focused on their goals rather than yield to peer pressure or negative influences. Drawing on an example from his own life, he said the ability to form and defend an informed view was particularly important in professions requiring critical analysis.
The Chief Justice told students not to allow their present circumstances to restrict their ambitions, noting that people from modest backgrounds had risen to serve on Ghana’s Supreme Court and international judicial bodies. He said some of the students could in future become professionals, public servants, legislators or national leaders.
He praised participating schools for pursuing holistic education, arguing that an institution’s quality should be measured not only by academic performance but also by the values it instils in its learners.
The Justice Clubs initiative is intended to promote legal literacy, leadership, civic responsibility and respect for the rule of law among students.
