Former President Jerry John Rawlings has accused some persons of deliberately “re-hashing” and “re-cooking” history to make him and other innocent people look guilty as far as the murder of three high court judges and an army major in 1982 is concerned.

Mr Rawlings who earlier expressed disappointment in successive governments for failing to unravel the mystery behind the murder of the 34 women women who were found dead mostly in various parts of the capital including Dansoman and Mataheko said the perpetrators of that crime some 36 years ago, were justly punished.

According to the Former Military ruler, the murderers of Ya Na Yakubu Andani and his 39 elders, are still walking free unlike the murderers of the judges who were saw hard and swift justice done.

Mr Rawlings’ comments come on the heels of a recent documentary on the murder of the three high court judges and a major in the army premiered by Multimedia.

In recent times, Joy News and The Multimedia Group have been broadcasting a comprehensive documentary on the killing of three judges and a retired army officer in 1982 when the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) military junta, led by then young Flt. Lt. Rawlings, seized power from the democratically elected government of Dr. Hilla Limann.

The documentary is pushing that the prime suspect, Joachim Amartey Kwei, could not have committed the crime without the backing of the authorities in the PNDC.

According to the documentary, the dreaded Captain Kojo Tsikata agreed that Amartey Kwei ought to have obtained the pass from a higher authority before having unrestricted movement on that fateful night when there was curfew.

The dastardly act remains a dark spot in the nation’s political history after the three High Court Judges namely, Justice Fred Poku Sarkodie, Mrs. Justice Cecilia Koranteng- Addow and Justice Kwadwo Agyei Agyapong, as well as a retired army officer, Major Sam Acquah, were callously murdered under strange circumstances at the Bundase Military Range in the Accra Plains.

Their bodies were found on 3rd July, 1982.


Mr Rawlings has always insisted that before Amartey Kwei was executed, he confessed, at the stakes, to falsely accusing Mr Tsikata of involvement.

The entire history of the heinous act was recently retold in the “Who Killed the Judges” documentary.

But Mr Rawlings believes history has been skewed to make innocent people appear guilty.

In a tweet, the former Ghanaian leader said the following:

A whole documentary on the killing of the major and the judges.

An unfortunate tragedy that saw hard, swift justice done to the perpetrators unlike the organised assault and killings of the Ya Na and his 39 elders for which those perpetrators are yet to see justice. This is the fundamental difference – one group of four saw justice, the other group of close to 40 did not and has not!

We have re-hashed and re-cooked history to make innocent people look murderous. And in the next breadth, using the same name to endorse yourselves because Rawlings has said he is cultured (compared to his predecessors). This is vicious and callous political opportunism.

We cannot reduce the harm and pain caused families and the whole country by turning this matter into a political-media circus.

In the meantime, our party has lost a few too many thinkers and strategists to see things clearly. We fall for traps set easily. Rather than a focused fight to ward off this attempt to twist and manipulate the truth (which thankfully some started well) we are back to hang Rawlings because of the DG publications.