DThe Accra Regional Police Command has commenced investigation into circumstances that led to the death of a high court judge who was dismissed in 2016.
The body of Justice Ringo Cass Akurugu Azumah was found on Good Friday in a decomposing state at his residence at Sakumono Estate, Tema in the Greater Accra Region.
Personnel of the Ghana Police Service forcibly opened the door after some residents complained of unpleasant smell in the area.
According to reports, there was some fluid dripping from the last floor of the flat where the judge lived alone, which the residents thought was from a rotten animal.
Explaining how the corpse was discovered, Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Accra Regional Police Command DSP Gifty Afia Tenge, said on April 19, 2019, police received compliant about the death of Justice Azumah in his residence.
She said crime scene experts were quickly dispatched from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) headquarters in Accra to the scene to commence investigations.
DSP Tenge said the police found the body of a male adult aged about 60 in the flat.
The police officer said that an inspection revealed no marks of violence and the body was conveyed to the Police Hospital pending autopsy.
The former judge was said to be always isolated and rarely seen in the neighborhood after his dismissal.
On January 19, 2016, then President John Mahama directed the removal of Justice Azumah from office on grounds of stated misbehaviour and incompetence.
The President was said to have acted upon the recommendations of a five-member committee that investigated a petition against the judge in accordance with Article 146 of the 1992 Constitution.
The Committee was chaired by a justice of the Supreme Court.
Several complaints of absenteeism, according to a statement issued by Office of the Judicial Secretary, were filed against the judge by the several people and a leading legal firm.
The Disciplinary Committee of the Judicial Council for Superior Court Judges found his conduct to be in breach of his judicial oath and office since he continuously failed to hear cases without permission.
From Vincent Kubi, TemaC