The late Major Maxwell Mahama
A defense lawyer in the trial of 14 persons accused of murdering the late Major Maxwell Mahama at Denkyira Obuasi (New Obuasi) in the Central Region has claimed the real perpetrators of the heinous crime are on the run.
Augustine Gyamfi, counsel for Michael Aning and Charles Kwening, made the claims during the cross-examination of the seventh prosecution witness, Ebenezer Appiah.
Major Mahama was brutally lynched in May 2017 while on detachment duties with some military officers in Denkyira Obuasi.
He 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.
Twenty-two people were initially arrested in connection with the murder and were put before Accra Central Magistrate Court for committal.
Eight of the suspects were later discharged by the court, as the state said it did not find any concluding evidence of the role they played in the lynching of the late soldier.
14 others have, however, been put before an Accra High Court to face murder and abetment of murder charges.
They have all pleaded not guilty to the charges leveled against them although state prosecutors say the accused persons, except the then assemblyman of the area, William Baah, were captured in a video during the crime.
But in cross-examining the seventh prosecution witness a defence lawyer claimed the real killers of the slain soldier are on the run and the witness agreed with him.
“Will you agree with me that the very people who masterminded the lynching of Major Mahama are on the run,” the lawyer asked and the witness replied ‘yes!’
‘Lies’
Another defence lawyer, George Bernard Shaw, accused the witness of not telling the truth to the court as there were inconsistencies in the timing as narrated to the police and the court.
The witness rejected the lawyer’s claim.
Confronted with his caution statement, which indicates a different time from his evidence in court, Ebenezer Appiah insisted that the time he gave the police officer, who took his statement is the same as the one he gave in court.
Again, the witness was accused of telling lies when he told the court that he had seen the viral video which captured the gruesome lynching of Major Mahama.
However, the witness told the court a cell leader at the Nsawam Medium Prison showed the video to him after he had given a statement to the police.
Ebenezer also told the court that although he was happy when he was discharged by the lower court, he also felt sad for his colleagues who were still in custody for their alleged involvement in the murder of Major Mahama.
Hearing continues today.
Gibril Abdul Razak