Ghana needs apolitical, visionary leaders — Rev Awotwi Pratt

The Bishop of the Accra Diocese of the Methodist Church of Ghana, the Right Reverend Titus K. Awotwi Pratt, has said the country needs leaders whose loyalty transcends their political parties to all Ghanaians, regardless of their political affiliation.

He said prevailing conditions in the country also called for visionary leadership that was abreast of the times and capable of dealing with all issues.

The Rt Rev Awotwi Pratt was delivering a sermon yesterday at the 32nd Remembrance Service for the three justices of the High Court of Ghana who were abducted and murdered in June 1982.

This year’s Remembrance Service was held on the theme, “Lest we forget”.

Murder of judges

Three judges — Mr Justice Fred Poku Sarkodee, Mrs Justice Cecilia Koranteng-Addow and Mr Justice Kwadwo Agyei Agyepong — as well as a retired Army officer, Major Sam Acquah, were abducted at night and murdered on June 30, 1982.

They were murdered at the Bundase Military Range on the Accra Plains on the night of their abduction, after which their bodies were set on fire. 

However, a heavy rainfall that night put out the fire, exposing the charred bodies.

The Rt Rev Awotwi Pratt said the three murdered judges had pronounced judgement according to their conscience and the rule of law and for that their “evergreen” lives were cut short.

He entreated Ghanaians to be upright and forthright in the discharge of their duties, stressing that that was what the lives of the three murdered judges had taught all.

Addressing the congregation, the President of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA), Nene A.O. Amegatcher, underscored the need for Ghanaians to commit themselves to building strong institutions of state that would outlast personalities.

He observed that in spite of constitutional guarantees, the actions and inaction of key state institutions had tended to undermine the rule of law, saying unless the citizenry rose to become vanguards in the quest for the actualisation of the guarantees of the Constitution, the state would rapidly sink into anarchy and chaos.

“The demolition of the security/observation post of the University of Ghana, a private property, on two occasions by operatives of National Security, without due process, is an assault on the rule of law,” he said.

Human rights

Nene Amegatcher noted that notwithstanding the constitutional guarantees, the human rights situation in the country continued to be undermined by challenges of access to justice. 

He said the lack of co-ordination and monitoring among key players in the criminal justice delivery process had led to a situation where many accused persons had had to spend many months or years in prison custody,  awaiting trial and the verdict of the court.