Forty-two years ago, on Thursday July 1, 1982, the 22nd anniversary of our beloved Republic, the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation reported a news item that sounded routine and unnecessary, initially.
All Judges, it was announced, were thenceforth to be provided with armed security for their protection. Since the Judges already had security protection of some sort, the announcement made little impression on the general population and lawyers.
Not even the most sceptical, suspected that behind the news item, was a repugnant episode, the horrible details of which were to unfold later.
Soon it was announced officially that three High Court Judges and a retired Army Officer had been abducted at night during the curfew hours of 30* June 1982. Prayers were offered for their safety.
But the nation’s worst fears became a reality when it was announced that Mr. Justice Fred Poku Sarkodee, Mrs. Justice Cecilia Koranteng-Addow and Mr. Justice Kwadwo Agyei Agyepong, all Judges of the High Court and Major Sam Acquah, a retired army officer, had been most brutally and savagely murdered on the night of their abduction.
This cruel, savage and heartless act occurred at the Bundase Military Range in the Accra Plains.
The bodies of these precious Ghanaians had been soaked with petrol and set on fire.
Divine intervention, through a heavy downpour that night, quenched the burning bodies. When discovered, the charred bodies had deteriorated into a state of decomposition.
The nation was stunned.
There was swift, widespread and open condemnation by Ghanaians from all walks of life. Pressure mounted on the then military government for a thorough investigation and punishment on the perpetrators.
The Provisional National Defence Council, publicly declaring itself to be horrified by the crime and yielding to the strong public pressure, appointed a Special Investigation Board with a former Chief Justice of Ghana, the Late Mr. Justice Samuel Azu Crabbe, as Chairman, to investigate the murders.
The courage and professional expertise of the Special Investigation Board’s main investigator, the late Chief Superintendent Jacob Jebuni Yidana, an officer of the Ghana Police Service, will go down in the history of Ghana as the qualities that helped produce one of the best criminal investigations ever undertaken in this country.
The Special Investigation Board submitted a report, which was published along with a Government White Paper.
The Special Investigation Board made a number of findings leading to the prosecution of Joachim Amartey Kwei, a member of the PNDC, Lance Corporals Samuel Amedeka and Michael Senyah, and two ex-soldiers: Johnny Dzandu and Tonny Tekpor.
During the trial, Lance Corporals Amedeka, Dzandu and Tekpor escaped in a jailbreak.
Amedeka fled the country but Dzandu and Tekpor were captured and they rejoined the trial.
All accused persons were found guilty and sentenced to death. Lance Corporal Amedeka was sentenced in absentia.
Though Lance Corporal Tekpor was also convicted he was not available to face the death penalty because it was alleged that some days before his trial concluded, another Public Tribunal had found him guilty of acts committed in connection with the jailbreak and he had suffered death in the execution of the sentence of that tribunal.
This is a brief résumé of the historical background to the dreadful events we have met here today to commemorate. Our departed colleagues died in the line of duty to their nation, to their countrymen and to the rule of law.
The Provisional National Defence Council, publicly declaring itself to be horrified by the crime and yielding to the strong public pressure, appointed a Special Investigation Board with a former Chief Justice of Ghana, the Late Mr. Justice Samuel Azu Crabbe, as Chairman, to investigate the murders.
The courage and professional expertise of the Special Investigation Board’s main investigator, the late Chief Superintendent Jacob Jebuni Yidana, an officer of the Ghana Police Service, will go down in the history of Ghana as the qualities that helped produce one of the best criminal investigations ever undertaken in this country.
The Special Investigation Board submitted a report, which was published along with a Government White Paper.
Joachine Amaroy kuali, a Pnember di the Mribe, lanedingo perdis’ särite, Anieceka and
Michael Senyah, and two ex-soldiers: Johnny Dzandu and Tonny Tekpor.
During the trial, Lance Corporals Amedeka, Dzandu and Tekpor escaped in a jailbreak.
Amedeka fled the country but Dzandu and Tekpor were captured and they rejoined the trial.
All accused persons were found guilty and sentenced to death. Lance Corporal Amedeka was sentenced in absentia.
Though Lance Corporal Tekpor was also convicted he was not available to face the death penalty because it was alleged that some days before his trial concluded, another Public Tribunal had found him guilty of acts committed in connection with the jailbreak and he had suffered death in the execution of the sentence of that tribunal.
This is a brief résumé of the historical background to the dreadful events we have met here today to commemorate.
Our departed colleagues died in the line of duty to their nation, to their countrymen and to the rule of law.
For the past forty-one years, the Bar and Bench have mourned the death of these martyrs of the rule of law.
In response to the call for reconciliation by the National Reconciliation Commission and the biblical injunction that we should forgive those who trespass against us, we have forgiven the wrongdoers for their cowardly and evil deeds. But we still remember these martyrs of the rule of law and will continue to celebrate them.
The Bar and Bench acknowledge and proclaim those good qualities and deeds for which they were murdered.
Justices Fred Poku Sarkodee, Cecilia Koranteng-Addow, and Kwadwo Agyei Agyepong, the Bar, Bench and the people of Ghana salute you.
You died in the line of duty. You performed your duty as judges without fear or favour. You stood for the rule of law. But your assassins hated what you stood for and murdered you.
They could not eliminate what you stood for. Your monuments stand in the forecourt of the Supreme Court building in constant reminder of the good qualities required of a judge.
Judges, Magistrates and Lawyers will continue to draw inspiration from the bold and courageous manner in which you administered justice in those challenging times. We will continue to celebrate you, lest we forget what you lived and died for.
*1. Life History Of The Late MR. JUSTICE FREDERICK POKU SARKODEE*
Mr Justice Frederick Poku Sarkodee was born in Koforidua on August 19, 1926. He was educated at E.C.M. Primary School, Koforidua.
He then continued at Adisadel College from 1943 to 1948 where he was a House Prefect. He passed his O’ Level Examinations with distinction.
In 1948, there was a college strike in protest against the arrest of the Big Six by the Colonial Administration, in the struggle for independence. He was rusticated as a result of the strike.
His father employed private teachers to prepare him for his Advanced Level Examinations, which he passed with flying colours.
In 1950, his father sponsored him to go to Sierra Leone where he studied successfully at Fourah Bay College.
He then went to the United Kingdom in 1954 to pursue legal studies. He was admitted to the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple in 1957 as a student and completed his course in two years.
He immediately returned to Ghana and joined the Office of the Attorney-General. He rose quickly to become a Senior State Attorney in
71966. He was elevated to the Bench as a High Court Judge in 1971 and discharged his functions with distinction.
Justice Poku Sarkodee was not a person who was bound by unbending conservatism for its own sake. Me was not afraid to explore and expand the frontiers of the law. As far back as 1976 before the Intestate Succession Act of 1985 (PNDC Law 111) which gives protection at customary law to a married spouse had been enacted, Justice Sarkodee sought to give protection to a wife who contributed to the estate of her deceased husband in the celebrated case of Abebreseh v Kaah reported in Volume 2 of the 1976 Ghana Law Reports at page 46.
Justice Sarkodee also delivered the judgment in Ghana Commercial Bank v Tabury reported in Volume 1 of the 1977 Ghana Law Reports at page 329, which is one of the celebrated cases on the setting aside of a default judgment.
In the case of Addo v Addo reported in Volume 2 of the 1973 Ghana Law Reports at page 103, a divorce matter, Justice Sarkodee exoanded the boundares of unreasonable behaviour when he stated that “persistently refusing a young wife sexual intercourse over a long period constituted unreasonable behaviour such that the wife ought not to be called upon to endure it any longer”.
Justice Poku Sarkodee was married to Yvonne and had five children. His widow, Mrs. Yvonne Sarkodee, passed away in 2018. He was a quiet vet very sociable gentleman and a leading member of a number of Clubs and Societies. He was also a very keen golfer and tennis player.
Fred is remembered with affection and respect by everyone who came into contact with him, both professionally and personally.
The inscription on erected bust at the Forecourt of the Supreme Court Building, Accra reads: “Mr. Justice Frederick Poku Sarkodee will be remembered as the cool, calm and collected gentleman, the very embodiment of courtesy, hard work, being fair and firm. He exhibited judicial taciturnity and versatility. He was committed to his family, work and God.”
2. *Life History Of The Late
MRS. JUSTICE CECILIA KORANTENG-ADDOW*
Mrs. Justice Cecilia Koranteng-Addie in May 24, 1936 in Assin-Nsuta, her hometown, to Mr. Philip A. Gaisie and Madam Adwoa Konsaa.
After her preliminary education, she continued her schooling at OLA and Holy Child Secondary School, Cape Coast. She then went abroad for further education.
After her preparatory studies, she entered the University of Hull where she distinguished herself with merit and credit. She obtained the Bachelor of Laws degree with Honours in 1963 and was called to the English Bar.
Cecilia returned home in 1964 and first engaged in private legal practice in the firm of Opoku Acheampong and Company.
There she immediately showed great promise, rising to eminence at the Bar. Marital relations and responsibilities moved her to Accra soon after and she decided to join the Judicial Service.
She started as a District Magistrate in July 1966. Her rise in the Service was quite meteoric and she was ultimately appointed a High Court Judge in 1975.
Mrs Justice Koranteng-Addow was one of three female Superior Court Justices at the time she became a High Court Judge in 1975. At the time of her death, only one female had been added to that number. Over fifteen of her judgments are reported in the Ghana Law Reports.
Popular among them is Lartey and Lartey Co Ltd v Beany and Anor delivered in 1980 and reported in Volume 1 of the 1987-88
Ghana Law Reports at page 590.
She had a sharp and penetrating brain for unravelling problems. Her judgments followed systematic logical reasoning.
She was cut out for the profession she chose. She was a keen worker who toiled night and day to produce decisions and judgments that will forever stand out for their elegance of reasoning.
Hear what she had to say when during the AFRC era, proceedings for a Writ of Habeas Corpus were brought before her in the case of the Republic v. Director of Prisons and Another; Ex parte Shackleford reported in the 1981 Ghana Law Reports at page 554. In her judgment she observed at page 576 as follows:
“One must not lose sight of the fact that in a revolution a lot of things happen and nobody questions the makers of such coups d’etat. However, when they seek to clothe their actions with the responsibility of legality, then sitting as a judge, I will have to look at these things clothed with legality with reference to the norms of legality with which we are familiar, and the tests of validity that are applicable to the acts of all legal tribunals. We are all witnesses to what happened during the A.F.R.C. era. People used that period as an opportunity to settle old scores. A lot of atrocities were committed in the name of the A.FR.C. Those who were exposed were punished but others went clean through the net. If the acts of those who went
inrouon the ner were to be brougn up to me cour now, can the transional provisions be pleaded in the name of justice in defence of such an act!… It will surely not.”
She was the first Judge to have questioned the Transitional Provisions of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) inserted in the 1979 Constitution and she set free an AFRC convict.
She also decided a case involving the rioting workers of Ghana Industrial Holding Corporation who attacked Parliament in the Third Republic.
Mr. Amartey kwel, one of the leaders of the workers subsequently became a member of the Provisional National Defence Council (the ruling government at the time of her death). He was tried and convicted of his role in her murder.
Cecilia was a keen Christian and Catholic, a good mother and wife.
She maintained a healthy balance between her tammy me and ner work witnour giving excuses on enter front. She predeceased both her parents.
She left behind a son and daughters. Dr. Gustav Koranteng-Addow, her husband before whose very eyes she was abducted never recovered from the shock and felt haunted daily by that spectacle. As a result he also succumbed to death.
The inscription on erected bust at the forecourt of the Supreme Court Building, Accra reads: “Mrs. Justice Cecilia Afran Koranteng-Addow will be remembered for her robust and alert mind, courage of conviction, impeccable integrity, keen sense of Justice and her firm control of her court. She was a deeply religious mother, wile and Judge.”
3. *Life History Of The Late MR. JUSTICE KWADWO AGYEI AGYEPONG*
The late Mr. Justice Kwadwo Agyei Agyepong was born at Oyoko, in the Ashanti Region in November 1926. He began his education at the nearby Asokore Local Authority.
Methodist Primary School and moved on to Sekondi Methodist School where as a result of his academic excellence he received a scholarship from the Methodist Church to pursue his secondary education at Mfantsipim, in Cape Coast in 1942.
After obtaining his Cambridge School Certificate in 1946, Agyei John, as he was popularly known, went to Wesley College to undertake a Teacher Training Course. In 1948, he completed the course with distinction, obtaining a Grade A Teacher’s Certificate. He returned to his alma mater.
Mantsipim, where he carved a niche for himself in the teaching profession.
He was full of humour and was famed for his use of the Queen’s English and Latin exoressions.
In 1954 he proceeded to the United Kingdom on a Cocoa Marketing Board Scholarship and entered Kings College, University of London, where he obtained his LLB in 1958. He was called to the Bar of England and Wales by the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple in February, 1960.
He returned to Ghana in 1961, engaging first in private legal practice with the late Mr. Amankwatia. A couple of years later, Kwadwo Agei Agyepong moved on to set up his own private legal firm at Adum in Kumasi with his lifelong friend and legal partner K.A.T.
After a successful career, and upon high recommendation by the Presiding Judge in Kumasi and the Judicial Council, Justice Kwadwo Agyei Agyepong was elevated to the position of a High Court Judge in September
1977.
In his short stay on the bench he exhibited industry, sat for long hours and showed a lot of promise.
It is not by chance that he was named as the only High Court Judge to serve on the Transitional Supreme Court in the historic constitutional case of 1980 between the PNP Government and Dr. Kwame Amoako Tuffour.
Justice Agyepong is noted for his ruling in the unreported case of Ramia v Ramia that was upheld by the Court of Appeal in Ramia v Ramia, reported in the 1981 Ghana Law Reports at page 275.
It is an oft cited authority in the law of trusts and matrimonial causes. He was appointed Chairman of the Committee of Inquiry to investigate the circumstances surrounding the Accra Railway Station shooting incident.
In May 1979, a second ear student of Commonwealth Hall, University of Ghana, was shot and killed by a Police Constable during student demonstrations. Ironically, in June 1980 whilst presenting the final report of the committee to the Pre Government, Justice Agyepong lamented the unwarranted use of firearms by the police to control a rather peaceful student protest.
Little did he know that a similar fate would befall him in two years, in more tragic circumstances.
Justice Kwadwo Agyei Agyepong, who was married to Comfort, left behind sons and daughters.
The inscription on erected bust at the forecourt of the Supreme Court Building, Accra reads: “Mr. Justice Kwadwo Agyei Agyepong will be remembered for his simple and unassuming manner, his prodigious capacity and love for judicial work and his abhorrence for violence. He was a committed father, husband and Judge.”
Source: Ghana BAR Association