Today in history, exactly 43 years ago, High Court Justices Cecilia Koranteng-Addow, Frederick Poku Sarkodee, and Kwadjo Adgyei Agyepong, along with retired army officer Major Sam Acquah, were abducted and murdered in secret.
The incident took place at night during a curfew at the Bundase Military Shooting Range in the Accra Plains.
According to the information gathered on June 30, 1982, three Ghanaian High Court Justices, Cecilia Koranteng-Addow, Frederick Poku Sarkodee, Kwadwo Agyei Agyepong, and retired Major Sam Acquah were abducted during a curfew and murdered at Bundase Military Range.
Their bodies were found burned. The PNDC regime, led by Jerry Rawlings, faced accusations due to the victims’ judicial rulings against it.
A Special Investigation Board convicted five, including Joachim Amartey Kwei, executed in 1983.
Allegations of higher-level involvement, including Rawlings, persist but are unproven and denied by him.
The event, marked as Martyrs Day, underscores judicial independence.
Speaking at the annual Martyrs’ Day commemoration in Accra, on Monday, June 30, 2025, Efua Ghartey, the President of the Ghana Bar Association, boldly told President John Dramani Mahama to be careful not to go down the slippery slope of endless revenge.
The GBA president noted that the recent suspension of Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo sets a troubling precedent for Ghana’s democratic institutions.
According to Efua Ghartey, the circumstances surrounding Justice Torkornoo’s suspension have sparked widespread concern and require thoughtful national reflection.
She stated, “All the various calls made for a reconsideration of the suspension of the Chief Justice must not be ignored. In these circumstances, it sets a poor precedent. And that precedent will not go unheeded”.
“We should be careful as a nation not to go down the slippery slope of endless revenge by justifying various acts with the refrain, ‘but others did that too.’
We then rose as a nation from the ashes like the phoenix and decided to conscientiously do better by making Ghana’s democracy and penchant for the rule of law admirable and attractive to many worldwide,” she explained.
Watch the video below:
TODAY IN HISTORY: Exactly 43 years ago, Supreme Court Justices Cecilia Koranteng-Addow, Frederick Poku Sarkodee, and Kwadjo Adgyei Agyepong, along with retired army officer Major Sam Acquah, were abducted and murdered in secret.
The incident took place at night during a curfew… pic.twitter.com/wjz43F1E17
— EDHUB🌍ℹ (@eddie_wrt) June 30, 2025
