Judges Murder: Ala Adjetey Drops Names

Accra (Daily Guide) -- Mr. Peter Ala Adjetey, a former Speaker of Parliament, on Friday said the gruesome murder of the three High Court Judges and a retired army officer 25 years ago was premeditated and masterminded by government operatives of the time.

He hinted that from the empirical evidence available, the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) government, led by Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings, could not be totally absolved of the crime.

According to him, less than 24 hours after the announcement of the kidnapping of the four, Rawlings, the then Head of State, swore to the nation on radio that no member of his government was behind it, and blamed the atrocity on the ‘enemies of the revolution’.

Mr. Ala Adjetey pointed out that at the end of the day, all those found to be involved in the cold-blooded murder of these high-placed persons were either members or functionaries of Rawlings’ PNDC.

The former speaker and senior lawyer again expressed worry that even after a Special Investigations Board (SIB) had found 10 members and close associates of the PNDC government culpable, only half of them were recommended for prosecution.

Mr. Adjetey, also a former President of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA), dropped the bombshell during the 25th Remembrance Day and Memorial Lecture of the murder of Justices Sarkodee, Koranteng-Addow and Agyepong in Accra.

Speaking on the topic: "Murder on the Judicial Bench in Ghana-reflections on the assassination of three High Court judges 25 years ago and its aftermath", he noted that even though the essence of the murders was to instill fear into the bench, the motive of the perpetrators had failed.

According to him, the open hostility demonstrated by the PNDC government against the Ghana Bar Association (GBA), following its stance on the matter was a clear manifestation that it was a protracted agenda from the days of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) of 1979, also led by Jerry Rawlings.

Mr. Ala Adjetey listed the persons found culpable as Captain (rtd) Kojo Tsikata, Sergeant Alolga Akata-Pore, Mr. J. Amartey Kwei and Lance Corporal S.K. Amedeka.

The rest were Michael Senyah, Gordon Nsurowuo, Gowu, Ransford Jonny Dzandu, Gomeleshio, and Evans Tekpor, alias Tonny.

The former speaker recalled how on that fateful day (June 30, 1982) the judges, Mr. Justice Fred Poku Sarkodee, Mrs. Justice Cecilia Koranteng-Addow and Mr. Justice Kwadwo Adjei Agyepong, together with a retired Army Officer, Major Sam K. Acquah, were abducted during curfew hours from their homes, murdered at the Bundase Military Range in the Accra Plains and their bodies doused with petrol and set ablaze.

"So devastating was the effect of the assassination of the four persons that a delegation of the African Bar Association, led by its Secretary General, came to Ghana and not only registered its condemnation of the murders, but also urged the government to use all its machinery and facilities to track down the culprits and bring them to book,” he said.

Mr Ala Adjetey noted that many members of the Bar were disappointed at the position taken by the Attorney General (A-G) of the time, G. E. K. Aikins, who failed to prosecute five of the 10 persons implicated in the infamous murder.

According to him, the murder squad assigned to carry out the operation mistakenly went to Bungalow Number 11 to look for Justice Addo, who was then occupying Bungalow Number 9, and wondered how Justices Coussey and Boison were not picked if the agenda was to kill all judges.

“It does not require anyone with the wisdom of Ulysses to know that the three judges were murdered because they refused to be intimidated.

If it were a matter of killing judges in general, the kidnappers would have picked as many judges as possible, since many of them were staying along the same street,” he stressed.

Contributing, Mr. Solomon Kwame Tetteh, President of the Ghana Bar Association, wondered if the A-G should be over-burdened with the Ministry of Justice or be in government at all.

“Government only talks about its economic achievements, but hides its human rights violations,” he averred, adding that judges needed the protection of the security agencies.

When contacted, Mr. Kwabena Agyapong, son of one of the murdered judges, said he would not speak any further because “enough had been said by Mr. Ala Adjetey”.

Even though Kwei, Tekpor, Senya and Dzandu had been executed, Amedeka, according to Ala Adjetey, “cheated justice” by escaping from jail.

Many people were of the opinion that the way government handled the matter at the time left much to be desired. “Never again will such perpetrators have a field day,” he vowed.

In attendance were the Chief Justice, Mrs. Georgina Theodore Wood, Messrs. Sam Okudzeto and Adu Gyamfi, both past GBA presidents, as well as Ministers of State, Members of Parliament, members of the Bar and the Bench.