Judge denies involvement

A retired judge of the High Court, Justice Joseph Kpakpo Abrahams has denied any involvement in the alleged disappearance of the Central Processing Unit and other records from High Court 3 in Kumasi.

A story carried on the front page of the Ghanaian Times on Tuesday, March 20 under the heading “Judge, 5 others quizzed” said five officials of the Judicial Service in Kumasi who have been interdicted for their alleged involvement in the theft, mentioned Justice Abrahams as having asked them to take the items.

Acting through his solicitor, Bright Akwetey of Akwetey and Associates, Justice Abrahams stated in a rejoinder that no record books from Court 3 are missing.

“What happened was that at the time of my retirement, I was yet to assign reasons for a few judgments which I already delivered and since I have left Kumasi, I requested one of my staff to send down the relevant record books and documents to me,” he said.

He described the loss of the COU as unfortunate as it would make it difficult for litigants to pursue their cases on appeal, “but all is not lost as there are other means of getting the proceedings back”.

He said he had no cause to steal the CPU since as a computer literate person “I know how to manipulate the system. I need not physically take possession of the CPU and take it away from the court premises”.

Justice Abrahams said it did not make sense for him to steak the CPU, adding: “I am not all that stupid to leave trails behind me. All that I have to do, if there is anything that I do not want anybody to see, as your reporter suggested, is to delete the material from the memory and leave the CPU standing there”.

Source: The Ghanaian Times