Never Again Into Dark Ages — Kufuor

President J. A. Kufuor has urged Ghanaians not to go back to the dark ages, such as the era in which the three High Court judges and a retired military officer were murdered in cold blood.

He said the murder of the judges and the retired military officer was an incident that traumatised the entire nation to an unimaginable degree.

President Kufuor made the remark when he granted audience to Mr William Blair, a distinguished lawyer of international repute and elder brother of the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, at the Castle, Osu, yesterday.

Mr Blair was accompanied to the Castle by the Chief Justice, Mr Justice George Kingsley Acquah, and the President of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA), Mr Kwami Tetteh.

The British lawyer is in the country at the invitation of the Judicial Service as the guest of honour for this year's activities to commemorate the 23rd anniversary of the murder of the judges.

Mr Blair, who is a Visiting Professor of Law at the London School of Economics, will deliver the Martyrs' Day Lectures.

The Martyrs Day Lectures were instituted by the GBA in memory of the judges, namely Mr Justice Kwadjo Agyei Agyepong, Mr Justice Frederick Poku Sarkodie and Mrs Justice Cecilia Koranteng Addow.

The three High Court judges, together with a retired military officer, Major Sam Acquah, were abducted, murdered and their bodies set ablaze at the Bundase Military Range on the Accra Plains on June 30, 1982.

President Kufuor said the country would not go back to those dark ages under the current dispensation of the rule of law and deepened democracy.

He said the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration was committed to good governance and upholding of human rights and the rule of law, adding that nobody, including himself, was above the law.

President Kufuor noted that the world had become a global village and it was, therefore, necessary to take the new world order into consideration in the country's relations with the international community.

Mr Blair thanked the government and Ghanaians for their hospitality towards him, indicating that Ghana was a wonderful country.

He extended the best wishes of the British Prime Minister to President Kufuor.

Mr Justice Acquah described the Blair brothers as lovers of Africa.

Story By Edmund Kofi Yeboah