Judge's Driver Kills Man

FOR SOME ten weeks now a cloud of loud silence has continually hung over the usually brisk premises of the nation's highest court, with intermittent gossips permeating office after office, concerning the killing of an unidentified man at the Kaneshie round-about by the official car of Mrs. Justice Sophia Abena Boafoa Akuffo, one of the only two female Supreme Court judges in Ghana today.

The accident which is currently under investigation by the Odorkor police, is being treated as a case of negligently causing harm.

And while the offending driver, Yaw Boateng, has been summarily dismissed, the mangled Audi A6 saloon car with registration number GR 6569 J may take some ?60 million of the Ghanaian taxpayer's money to make it road-worthy again.

According to a source close to the Judicial Service, Justice Akuffo was off on a trip to North America when the screeching-happy driver, veered his boss' automatic car off the express road, hitting and killing the man instantly.

When later the Chronicle visited the court for official comment, the transport officer, Mr. Charles Amematsor, confirmed the story and said the driver was sacked because he was not on any official assignment when the accident happened.

Mr. Amematsor said that to the best of his knowledge relatives of the dead man who was suspected to be mad, had not owned up but could not tell whether the body was still lying at the mortuary at the time of the interview.

He said that he was linking up with VODI Technik, the main Audi agents in Ghana, to assess the cost of repairs but guessed that the cost might hover around ?60 million.

The transport officer admitted that a new Audi A6 saloon car and a driver had been made available for use even before the return of the judge from her two-week trip.

This reporter gathered from other reliable sources that another judge also crashed his car under bizarre circumstances recently, giving insiders cause to worry.

On his part the investigator, Sgt. Owusu of the Kaneshie divisional branch of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) after confirming the story, indicated that the docket on the case had been forwarded to the police headquarters for advice.

Sgt. Owusu, however, expressed shock when he learnt that the driver had been sacked and wondered how such a hasty decision could have been taken at this early stage of investigations.

What is not yet known is the source and value of the replaced car whose engine alone now sells officially at ?22 million.

Meanwhile Justice Akuffo is not available for comment since she has again left the country for London on an assignment, Chronicle learnt.