President Kufuor unveils busts of murdered Judges

Accra, June 28, GNA - President John Agyekum Kufuor on Monday unveiled busts erected in memory of three High Court Judges, who were abducted and murdered in cold blood in the early hours of June 30, 1982 by operatives of the then military regime of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council.

They slain Judges were Mr Justice Fred Poku Sarkodee, Mr Justice Kwadwo Agyei Agyepong and Mrs Justice Cecilia Koranteng-Addow. President Kufuor, assisted by Chief Justice George Kingsely Acquah and Mr Peter Ala Adjetey, Speaker of Parliament, unveiled the busts at the forecourt of the Supreme Court in Accra.

Each of the busts was set upon a granite pedestal with their individual biographies and a short account of the circumstances under which they were murdered.

There is a curved colonnade serving as a backdrop to the busts, which symbolically represents God's justice in the land and reflects the architecture of the Supreme Court building.


This curvature also creates a central focus court in front of the busts where the pain and sin of the crime is focused, symbolically collected and atoned for and taken away into the depths of the earth. Behind the busts are pillars with the inscription "Martyrs of the Rule of Law".


The Ghana Police Service Central Band and the Winneba Youth Choir provided melodious tunes as the solemn ceremony unfolded. This year, the Judicial Council decided to "immortalize the souls" of the three eminent Judges by erecting their busts at the forecourt of the Supreme Court building as a reminder of their supreme sacrifices to the nation.

Unveiling of the estimated 500 million-cedi busts formed part of activities marking the 22nd anniversary celebration of the death of the Judges, dubbed "Martyrs' Day".


On that fateful day, the Judges, together with a retired Army Major Sam Acquah, were abducted from their homes and cruelly murdered at the Bundase Military Range in the Accra Plains.