Judge 'Murdered'

The Sudden and mysterious death of the presiding judge of Dzodze Magistrate Court in the Ketu District of the Volta Region has thrown the whole Dzodze Township into a state of shock.

Forty seven-year-old Mrs. Mercy Tutuwaa Ampem-Darko, described as a very strict and firm magistrate, met her untimely death on the Dzodze-Denu road on Sunday, November 11, 2007.

Her new Tata saloon car was involved in a crash on her way to mourn a deceased church member at Denu early that fateful morning. The ‘accident’, which had become a big puzzle for the family members and the Dzodze Police, instantly claimed the life of the judge and one other lady who was travelling with her. Family sources at Kukurantumi, her hometown, said the lower abdomen of the judge who was firmly held to the seat by her seat belt, was slashed open with parts of her intestines showing, as if a sharp object had been used to cut open her stomach.

According to family sources, what made the ‘accident’ more mysterious was the fact that the gash was at a point where the lower arm of the belt rested even though she was wearing her slit and kaba with a covering cloth.

Speaking to Daily Guide at his residence, father of the deceased, who was a former principal of the SDA Training College at Asokore in Koforidua, M.E. Duodu expressed great shock at the death of his daughter, saying that she was with him a week ago at the 45th anniversary of the college.

Mr Duodu was suspicious that somebody might have killed his daughter, especially since the Dzodze Police had refused to provide any clue on the accident.

"When the information got to us, we sent people there the following day but the body of my daughter had already been embalmed and no autopsy done."According to him, the hospital authorities at St. Anthony Hospital at Dzodze also said they did not know the person who brought his daughter to the hospital after the accident, while the police were also mute over it.

Mr Duodu said both sides of his daughter's car were scratched and dented but there was no indication that she had a head-on collision, raising further suspicion that the judge might have been a victim of a diabolic act.He noted that when family members visited the Dzodze Police Station, a policeman was said to have remarked that the judge was "too strict".

Elder Duodu, 73, who remained calm in his interaction with Daily Guide, described the death of his daughter as a big blow.“Tutuwaa was the pillar of the family, intelligent, an achiever and an organiser," he said.The incident was said to have shocked the Volta Regional Minister who comes from the town. He was as well said to have been giving the judge the encouragement to go on with her work. Sometime ago, a presiding judge was shot by a military man who had been brought before him after the man jumped bail.

As a result of the gory shooting incident, the court became dormant with all judges refusing postings to the area. Daily Guide learnt that Mrs. Ampem-Darko, who was very religious and a member of the SDA, had encountered a lot of "spiritual temptations" but had been able to survive all these throughout the two years she had served in the town until she met her untimely death last Sunday.

Her first posting was to Asante Mampong where she spent one and half years before being transferred to Dzodze. She was due for another transfer in September this year but it was suspected that there was difficulty in getting a replacement for her. The Registrar of the court, Mr Sipitey and officials of the Ketu District Assembly, who accompanied the corpse to the Akyem New Tafo Government Hospital on Tuesday, expressed great shock at the death of the magistrate, explaining that she was very affable and free with everybody.

“Madam would always ask whether I have had my lunch and would sometimes send food to be given to me," Mr. Sipitey recalled with tears in his eyes. When this paper visited the family house at Kukurantumi, the mother, also a retired educationist, was beside herself with grief.

She could not be controlled and cried her heart out about the loss of her daughter. Mrs. Ampem-Darko, after completing the Law School about seven years ago, practised as a lawyer at Cape Coast and in Takoradi before being appointed a magistrate about four years ago. She is survived by two sons.