The late Major Maxwell Adams Mahama
Charles Kwaning aka Akwesi Buah, another suspect in the lynching of the late Major Maxwell Adams Mahama, has denied any involvement in the gruesome murder of the late soldier.
The accused, who is among 14 people standing trial for conspiracy, abetment and murder, opened his defence yesterday and told the court that he rather tried to rescue the deceased from his assailants.
Although the accused was captured in a video pointing a gun at the deceased, he told the court that he had taken the gun from one Yaw Amankwa, who wanted to shoot the late soldier.
He said he folded the gun and kept it while the others assaulted the deceased, who was thought to be a thief.
He also told the court that he witnessed the deceased exchange gunshots with the said Yaw Amankwa several times when Yaw Amankwa and Gideon Baah, the then Assemblyman and also an accused, approached him.
“There was a heavy crowd of people with different backgrounds and I attempted to rescue the deceased. In an attempt to rescue him, I was hit by a cement block,” Charles Kwaning told the court.
It was also his defence that he saw a young man by name Kwame Tuffuor carrying a cement block, which he wanted to hit the deceased with while he was being assaulted.
“I told him to stop and I pushed him aside. I was shouting ‘it’s ok, stop, it’s ok, stop’. But the crowd continued to assault him,” he disclosed.
Akwesi Buah also told the court that he saw a young man who took the deceased’s pistol and attempted to run away but he chased him, collected the pistol and gave it to a unit committee member by name Agahowa.
The prosecution, led by Frances Mullen Ansah, a Chief State Attorney, during cross-examination pointed out inconsistencies in the testimony of Akwesi Buah and accused him of not being truthful with the court.
She pointed out for instance the accused person’s statement to the police that he was arrested at Domenase yet told the court yesterday that he was arrested at Agona Swedru.
She also reminded the accused that he mentioned in the same statement that he had travelled to Kumasi, the day the incident happened so he was not at the crime scene.
He was shown pictures from a screenshot taken from a video at the crime scene, and the accused identified himself multiple times as the one wearing a red T-shirt and pair of black trousers carrying a gun.
He denied pointing the gun at the deceased, and also insisted that the gun was folded.
Trial continues on April 17, 2023, for the prosecutor to continue cross-examination.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak