Martyrs day: Politicians told to avoid creating political and social tensions
As the political temperature in Ghana increases, the Ghana Bar Association is urging politicians and public servants to be mindful of their utterances and stop fueling political and social tensions in the country.
With the December 7 elections five months away, the National President of the Ghana Bar Association, Anthony Forson Jnr, believes this is the time to thaw tensions.
He made the passionate appeal at the 38th-anniversary remembrance service of three judges and a senior military officer, who were murdered in 1982.
Known as Martyrs’ Day, the event is used to honour the three justices of the High Court who were abducted and brutally murdered by some elements linked to the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC).
The three justices; Justice Fred Poku Sarkodee, Justice Mrs. Cecilia Koranteng-Addow and Justice Kwadwo Agyei Agyepong, were murdered some 38 years ago.
The bar president observed that politicians have a duty to ensure that peace prevails in the country and not to be the route through which the country experiences unrest.
“Public servants must learn and know that they serve the public, the people whose monies are used to remunerate them. And the public also needs to respect public servants who have left very good jobs to serve the public. It is the duty of those in the public space to allay the fears of the public that what we are doing is to elect a President for Ghana, that is all.
“So whatever we do, we must do something that lends credibility to the whole process. Every four years, we go through this cycle and it is time that we try our best to stop this cycle of fear,” the bar president said in his address.
When he took his turn, Most Rev. Dr. Paul Boafo, the Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church, Ghana, indicated that the barbaric killing of the three justices ought not to happen ever again in the country’s history.
He also called on politicians in the country to embrace justice and righteousness, as they lead the efforts and quest of the country to grow and develop.
He urged them to stop inciting tensions in the country ahead of the 7th December polls.
“There is too much confusion, there is too much fear, there is too much monetisation in our politics, polarisation in our society, apart from the Covid, the fear that we all have at this moment.
“How long can we continue to have this fear? Every four years, standing for justice, standing for righteousness…do we have to come through this again and again and again?”
“Can we come out of this? This Martyrs left us a legacy, and that is what we have to uphold,” Most Rev. Dr. Boafo said.
President Nana Akufo- Addo attended the remembrance service Akufo-Addo, alongside the Chief Justice, Justice Anin Yeboah; other Justices of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal and High Court; the Attorney General, Gloria Akuffo, and her Deputy, Godfred Yeboah Dame.
Below are some pictures from the anniversary
