Rev. Opuni Frimpong advises attorneys to address human rights violations beyond Martyrs’ Day.

Rev. Dr. Kwabena Opuni Frimpong, the former general secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana, has urged the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) to discuss systemic violations of human rights rather than only commemorating Martyrs’ Day.

He claimed that after 40 years of commemorating the tragic deaths of the three High Court judges, it was time for the group to voice its concerns about ongoing human rights violations.

He claimed that people were rapidly losing faith in the legal system and turning instead to unconventional methods of dispute resolution, such as praying to gods and seeking solace in the media.

“They should talk about issues of human rights,” he stated, going beyond just commemorating memorial days.

Rev. Dr. Opuni Frimpong noted that this had occurred as a result of the idea that justice was reserved for the wealthy or the highest bidder.

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Rev. Dr. Opuni Frimpong challenged the GBA to repair its reputation by doing more than just the celebration to educate the general people about the law during his sermon at this year’s Martyrs’ Day commemoration in Kumasi. Rev.

There are still some who believe that justice is served to the highest bidder, the wealthy, and the educated.

We are arguing that as a nation, if we still hold the consciousness of what happened 41 years ago, we must place concerns of human rights and human dignity on the national agenda. “It is not for village people, the illiterates, to the extent that even pastors are abusing people,” he continued.

He asked attorneys and judges to take use of the occasion to “talk to Ghanaians in schools, churches, markets, and media platforms about how Ghanaian soil should never again drink the blood of innocent people as it did 41 years ago.”

Ignorance

If the association didn’t follow through on that, according to Rev. Dr. Opuni Frimpong, uneducated individuals would re-join the movement if a demand for “let the blood flow” was made, as it was 41 years before.

“Back then, I was a student, and we didn’t know anything.

We joined despite not understanding what was happening.

“We claim that ignorance is to blame for the fact that there are still individuals who support such actions today.

They don’t comprehend the law, and the only way to fix that, according to him, is to provide them with “legal education beyond the Law School.”

He emphasized that “it must be facilitated by the Ghana Bar Association” and that understanding one’s rights shouldn’t be limited to those who have attended law school. Rev.

Call to Duty

Kwame Owusu Sekyere, the association’s Ashanti Regional President, urged his fellow attorneys to be on guard and aware of dangers to the nation’s rule of law if the passing of the deceased justices was to continue to have significance.

The absence of swift and effective justice, he claimed, “anchored on robust and effective legal representation of persons in conflict with the law,” would render the rule of law useless.

He emphasized that people, especially members of vulnerable groups, are unable to have their voices heard, exercise and protect their rights, or hold decision-makers responsible without access to swift and efficient justice.

The High Court judges Fred Poku Sarkodie, Cecilia Koranteng-Addow, and Kwadwo Agyei Agyapong, as well as retired Army Major Sam Acquah, who were kidnapped on June 30, 1982, and ultimately murdered, are remembered during the Martyrs’ Day commemoration.

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