Justice Acquah's death is loss to nation - Akrofi

Accra, April 27, GNA - The Most Reverend Dr Justice Offei Akrofi, Archbishop of the Church of Province of West Africa and Anglican Bishop of Accra, on Friday urged society to be circumspect and not play politics with peoples names and dignity.

He said it was important for people, especially those in leadership positions to be dedicated to decency and morality as they played their respective roles in life.

Rev. Dr Offei Akrofi was delivering the sermon at the burial service held for the late Chief Justice George Kingsley Acquah at the forecourt of the State House in Accra.

The burial service brought together about 1,000 people including President John Agyekum Kufuor and his wife, Vice President Mahama and his wife, Ministers of State, Members of Parliament, Members of the Judiciary, the media, friends, sympathizers and the family. Rev. Dr Offei Akrofi said: "The state burial for Justice Acquah signals a life of commitment and dedication. He is not being given a state burial because he was Chief Justice rather because of his merits. Justice Acquah's death is a genuine sense of loss to the nation." He reminded people to conduct themselves well wherever they were as death was a necessary end and every mortal certainly had a date with death.

"We all have a date with death so we must conduct ourselves so that we may face the death date prepared," he stressed.

Rev. Dr. Akrofi said when good people died their good deeds did not perish and asked people to ponder over how they would be remembered. He advised the late Chief Justice wife, Mrs Jane Acquah to be comforted knowing that her husband's spirit would continue to smile at her and also remember that it was God that had called him. Mrs Acquah in a tribute to her husband noted that George, as she affectionately called him, was an honourable man and disciplined. He would not compromise on matters of principle.

"George was an extremely supportive husband, a source of inspiration and honest admiration to me and the children. He was a friend, a husband, uncle, father and a wise counsellor. He opened wide his arms to the needy and defended the rights of children with vigour." Mrs Acquah said it was her husband's desire to become a priest of the Anglican Communion and so started classes at the Trinity Theological Seminary but could not realize that dream when he was appointed Chief Justice and so regrettably gave up.

"As I ponder in grief over George's death, I take a trip down memory lane to 30 years ago when he proposed to me... he was a young lawyer, a man of noble character, caring, approachable, selfless, patient, kind, loving, understanding and most importantly, God fearing." Mr Isaac Charles Acquah, eldest son of the late Chief Justice, in a tribute said his father left behind a mark of excellence and goodwill for his siblings to exploit.

"The departure of our father was highly unexpected even though he was ill. Here was a man who hardly fell sick; he was a strong, active and energetic man who was yet to be called 'old man'". Mr Acquah remarked sadly that: "The Chief Justice position will be replaced but our father cannot be replaced. We shall survive, so rest in peace till we join you one after the other to give account of our stewardship to the respect and decency you left for us to uphold in honour of your name."

Justice Acquah died at the 37 Military Hospital in Accra about a month ago.

He was called to the Bar in 1972 and practiced privately until his appointment as a High Court Judge in 1989. He became an Appeal Court Judge in 1994 and a Supreme Court Judge in 1995.

Justice Acquah was appointed Chief Justice in June 2003, quickly finding favour in the judiciary for his fight against corruption, which saw the dismissal of some judges. Justice Acquah is survived by a wife and six children.