VCRAC Crabbe
Thousands of Ghanaians, on Thursday, paid an emotional farewell to the late Justice Professor Vincent Cyril Richard Arthur Charles Crabbe, popularly known as Justice VCRAC Crabbe.
The mortal remains of Justice Crabbe was enclosed in a casket draped with the national colours of red, green, yellow and black at the Accra International Conference Centre for the public to pay their last respects to the revered legal luminary.
The solemn service was witnessed by people from all walks of life, including President Akufo-Addo and his wife Rebecca Akufo-Addo, Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, former President Jerry John Rawlings, the Clergy and Service Commanders.
The family of Justice Crabbe, and mourners bedecked in black and white to acknowledge his advanced age and painful loss.
Justice Crabbe, considered the doyen of Ghana’s legal regime, contributed immensely towards nation building and the rule of law by drafting many legislative instruments for Ghana and other African countries.
Justice Crabbe was Ghana’s first Electoral Commissioner, and the only person in the history of Ghana’s Judiciary to have been appointed twice to the Supreme Court.
In the sermon, the Most Reverend Prof. Emmanuel Asante, former Presiding Bishop of Methodist Church Ghana, admonished Ghanaians at all levels of society to work diligently in their chosen profession so that “the dead, the living and the unborn will not do it better than you.”
“To finish well at the end, you need to start finishing well now because the future is embedded in the present so handle tomorrow like today,” Most Rev. Asante emphasised.
He acknowledged the enormous contribution Justice Crabbe made towards building the nation and urged Ghanaians to emulate his exceptional qualities of humility, integrity and discipline.
Most Rev. Asante said the time has come for the nation to compile the eulogies’ of all the accomplished statesmen into one document so that the present and the future generation would learn from their works.
Earlier, dignitaries filed past his body that was laid in State at the Conference Centre to pay their last respects.
Charles, as affectionately called by close relations and friends, was admitted to the Junior Boys School, near James Fort Prison.
After completing his junior school, he moved to the Government Boys Senior School at Kinbu.
He later gained admission to the Accra Academy in 1939 to continue his education.
On August 22, 1952, Charles gained admission to the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple in England to study law.
He passed the first part of the Bar examination within the first year of studies at the Inner Temple, which was not the norm; he completed the course in two years, instead of the normal three years.
When he returned to Ghana, he worked at the Attorney-General’s Department, as an Assistant Crown Counsel and later became the first African to be appointed Parliamentary Counsel.
By dint of hard work and dedication to work, Charles became the head of the Legislative Drafting Division of the AG’s Department after Ghana’s independence.
He drafted and supervised the drafting of numerous legislative frameworks.
In 2011, Justice Crabbe was part of the team of living legends who assisted the Prof. Fiadjoe-led Constitution Review Commission to undertake the review of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.
Justice Crabbe, an exceptional draftsman, also supported the drafting of many legislative instruments of other African countries and trained many other students in legislative drafting.
He remained regularly sought after resource person for legislative drafting courses organised by several African countries, including Mauritius, Namibia and Zambia.
He was born on October 29, 1923 at Kinkam in Ussher Town, Accra, to Richard Arthur Crabbe, Chief Registrar of the Gold Coast Judicial Service of Nii Yao Duade We and Stella Akoley Lartey, a seamstress from the Nii Walakataka We of Osu.
He passed on peacefully at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital after a brief illness on September 7, 2018.
The 95-year-old statesman was survived by six children and many grand children and great grandchildren.
The mortal remains of Justice Crabbe was interred privately at the Military Cemetery.
GNA