Bequeathed by the British, Ghana's judicial system displays all the solemn trappings of the Old Bailey, complete with decorous courtrooms and gowned-and-wigged judges. Far higher than the law of the land is Osagyefo (Redeemer) and President Kwame Nkrumah.
Following an unsuccessful grenade attempt on Nkrumah's life in 1962, five men were charged with treason, among them three of the Redeemer's closest associatesInformation Minister Tawia Adamafio, Foreign Minister Ako Adjei, and Hugh Horatio Cofie-Crabbe, executive secretary of Nkrumah's Convention People's Party. Tried before Ghana's highest judge, the quintet got a split verdict; two defendantsan Opposition M.P. and a former civil servantwere...