Major Maxwell Mahama
An Accra High Court has directed the prosecutions in the trial of 14 persons accused of the gruesome murder of the late Major Maxwell Mahama to address the seven-member jury on October 16, 2023.
The court had scheduled the case for yesterday at which the defence lawyers were expected to address the jury and convince them to return a not guilty verdict for their respective clients.
The prosecution would then take a turn to convince the jury that the accused were responsible for the wrongful death of the late soldier who was mistaken for an armed robber and lynched in May 2018 in Denkyira Obuasi, in the Central Region.
This could however, not happen as one of the defence lawyers, Patrick Anim-Addo told the court that per the practice and what he knew, the prosecution ought to address the jury before the defence lawyers take their turn.
Evelyn Keelson, a Chief State Attorney, disagreed with the defence counsel but indicated to the court that the prosecution had no issue addressing the jury first.
The court, presided over by Justice Mariama Owusu, a Justice of the Supreme Court sitting as an additional High Court judge, adjourned the case to October 16, 2023, for the prosecution to address the jury.
Major Mahama was the captain of the 31-member military team sent to the town to guard the properties of C&G Mining Company as a result of illegal mining activities in the area.
William Baah, the then Assemblyman for the area, is standing trial for abetment of murder while the other 13 are facing charges of conspiracy to commit murder and substantive charge of murder.
They have all pleaded not guilty to the charges and have been in prison custody since the commencement of the trial in 2018.
The other accused persons are Bernard Asamoah, alias Daddy, Kofi Nyame a.k.a Abortion, Charles Kwaning a.k.a Akwasi Boah, Kwame Tuffour, Joseph Appiah Kubi, Michael Anim and Bismarck Donkor, John Bosie, Akwasi Asante, Charles Kwaning, Emmanuel Badu, Bismarck Abanga and Kwadwo Anima.
The Office of the Attorney General on May 16, 2022, closed its case in the trial of the 14 persons who allegedly lynched the late Major Maxwell Mahama at New Obuasi in the Central Region in 2017.
The prosecution during the presentation of its case called 14 witnesses who gave various accounts of what happened on the day and what they witnessed.
Frances Mullen Ansah, a Chief State Attorney during one of the proceedings led the case investigator in evidence when the court played the horrifying videos which captured the accused persons lynching the deceased.
Eleven of the accused persons opened their defence and denied the charges against them while three; Kofi Nyame, Bismarck Abanga and Kwadwo Anima, waived their rights to mount a defence.
Charles Kwaning during his defence denied attacking the deceased and said he was rather trying to rescue him from the angry mob.
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.
One of them, Akwasi Baah, in his defence admitted hitting the deceased with a cement block at the scene, but told the court that the late soldier was already dead when he smashed his head with the cement block.
Another accused person, Bernard Asamoah, also admitted hitting the deceased with a stone, but said he only hit the body which was motionless in his attempt to identify him.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak