Jemima, I will return – The last words of Major Rtd. Sam Acquah to his wife before he was murdered in 1982

The murder of the three High Court judges in 1982 ranks highly among others as one of the darkest and most heinous crimes ever committed in the history of this country.

The three judges, namely Justice Cecilia Koranteng-Addo, Justice Kwadwo Agyei Agyepong, and Justice Fred Poku Sarkodie were abducted from their respective homes by officers of the Ghana Armed Forces and murdered in cold blood.

Among the victims of that heart-wrenching crime which has etched its place as a dark period in Ghana’s history was Major Rtd. Sam Acquah who was then managing director of the Ghana Industrial Holding Corporation.

Like the judges, Major Rtd. Sam Acquah was taken from his home in Dzorwulu and murdered by soldiers of the revolution.

The murders took place at the Bundase military shooting range in the Accra Plains during the hours of a night-time curfew.

In 2003, the Kufuor government set up a National Reconciliation Commission to probe the excesses of the military era and offer apologies and support to people who were victims of the crimes of the military regimes.

Jemima Acquah, the wife of Major Rtd. Sam Acquah was one of the witnesses of the commission and she recounted everything that happened on the night of 30th December, 1982.

Below is her narration of events

We were staying in Dzorwulu. My husband returned from work at 74:45pm. After he arrived, he informed us that he was going to visit sister Ametey who had lost her husband. He returned at exactly 9:45 and I told my daughter to heat up the food for her father.

We heard a knock on the door and I opened it myself. I saw a man in a smock and upon interrogation he told me that my husband had asked him to visit. I was curious so I asked why he was out at that time because there was curfew and he told me he had special clearance.

I relayed his information to my husband who came to see him. He told my husband that his presence was needed at Burma camp on that night. My husband requested to eat before going but the man opposed it. We begged him but he didn’t oblige. They pulled a pistol and I let a big shout, Oh Lord. My husband turned a look at me and said ‘Jemima, don’t cry, if its Burma Camp that I’m being taken to then I will surely return.’

They took him away so I came to sit at the hall. Another fellow in a smock came to sit with me at the hall and assured that my husband was going to return. I couldn’t sleep that night because I was hoping he would return.

The next day I went to the next house to speak to my neighbour. I went with him to Burma Camp to see a cousin of Major Acquah. When I told him, he asked me to come because my husband was going to return home.

I came home to meet a big crowd and I was told that he wasn’t around. Five days later and he still had not returned. I turned on the television and my auntie who was with me asked that I turn it off but before turning it off I heard the national anthem being played and ex-president JJ Rawlings was addressing the nation. He announced that the bodies of my husband and three others had been found. I passed out.

Where were they killed

According to history, the three judges and retired soldier were killed at the Bundase military shooting range in the Accra Plains during the hours of a night-time curfew.

The three High Court Judges were martyred and are remembered in an annual judicial service on the anniversary of their deaths, called Martyrs Day, in Ghana.