Major Mahama Murder: Denkyira Obuasi Assemblyman Given Life Sentence Freed by Court After Appeal
- A former Assembly Member at Denkyira-Obuasi in the Central Region, William Baah, has won his appeal in the Major Mahama murder case
- Baah was serving a life sentence after being found guilty of the May 2017 incident that stunned the country
- Twelve suspects were found guilty on counts of murder, conspiracy to commit murder and abetment of murder
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A former Assembly Member at Denkyira-Obuasi in the Central Region, William Baah, who was sentenced to life over the murder of Major Maxwell Adam Mahama, has been freed by the Court of Appeal.
In a unanimous judgment on November 20, the court said the trial judge, Justice Mariama Owusu, then a Justice of the Supreme Court, sitting with additional responsibility as a High Court Judge, misdirected the jury to arrive at a guilty verdict for the assemblyman.
Source: Getty Images
Graphic Online reported that the court held that:
“The midsection of the High Court judge was grave. The jury would not have returned a verdict of guilt if they had been properly directed."
The court also said the judge made the mistake of relying on the caution statements of two of the accused persons incriminating the assemblyman.
The court was of the view that the caution statement of an accused person which implicated another accused person should be made in the presence of the one the statement implicates.
It also said the caution statement could only be used against the accused person making the statement and not a co-accused.
“The Judge was bound to disregard the incriminating statements when directing the jury."
In addition to this, the court held that the statements of two of the accused persons, which the court relied on, were full of inconsistencies and suspicions. Baah thus left the court a free man.
About the guilty verdict in the Major Mahama case
On February 1, 2024, 12 persons were found guilty of murdering Mahama at Denkyira-Obuasi on May 29, 2017.
They were found guilty on counts of murder, conspiracy to commit murder and abetment of murder after Major Mahama was beaten and burnt to death by dozens of men after locals in Denkyira-Obuasi mistook him for a robber.
Source: Getty Images
He had gone jogging in sports clothing and was carrying a handgun at the time.
Two of the people standing trial alongside the 12, Bismark Donkor and Bismarck Abanga, were acquitted.
Following the incident, over 50 people were rounded up, of whom 14 were screened and prosecuted.
The case had been in court for about six years following an incident that shocked the country. In the course of the case, some suspects confessed to their roles in the lynching.
Justice system condemned over Major Mahama's trial
YEN.com.gh reported in a related story in May 2022 that then-political Science lecturer, Professor Ransford Gyampo, criticised Ghana's judicial system for the slow pace of the trial of the murder case.
At the time, he called for the justice system to be fixed immediately to deal with avoidable delays.
In the opinion of the popular political scientist, if such a high-profile case could be delayed in court, then ordinary citizens of Ghana are "just like fowls".
Proofreading by Samuel Gitonga, copy editor at YEN.com.gh.
Source: YEN.com.gh
