Court frees Assemblyman in Major Mahama murder case

A former Assembly Member from Denkyira Obuasi in the Central Region, William Baah, who received a life sentence for his role in the murder of Major Maxwell Adam Mahama, has been released by the Court of Appeal.

In a unanimous ruling on Thursday, November 20, the three-member panel determined that the trial judge, Justice Mariama Owusu, who was then a Justice of the Supreme Court serving additionally as a High Court Judge, misled the jury into reaching a guilty verdict against the assemblyman.

“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 held.

Specifically, the court found that it made an error by relying on the cautioned statements of two of the accused individuals, which implicated the assemblyman.

The court opined that the cautioned statement of one accused person that implicates another should be made in the presence of the implicated individual, emphasising that such a statement can only be used against the person making it and not against a co-accused.

“The Judge was bound to disregard the incriminating statements when directing the jury,” the court said.

Additionally, the court noted that the statements from two of the accused individuals, which were relied upon, were rife with inconsistencies and suspicions.

Background

In January 2024, twelve persons, including the former assembly member of Denkyira Obuasi in the Central Region, were found guilty of the murder of Major Maxwell Adam Mahama.

A seven-member panel returned a unanimous guilty verdict after nearly seven years of trial.

William Baah, the then Assemblyman for the area, was standing trial for abetment of murder, while the other 13 are facing charges of conspiracy to commit murder and substantive charge of murder.

Brief Facts

The facts, presented by the prosecution, were that Major Mahama was the commander of a military detachment stationed at Diaso in the Upper Denkyira West District of the Central Region to check illegal mining activities.

At 8 am on May 29, 2017, Major Mahama, wearing civilian clothes but with his sidearm, left his detachment base for a 20-kilometre jog.

At 9:25 a.m., the military officer got to the outskirts of Denkyira Obuasi, where a number of women were selling foodstuffs by the roadside.

He stopped to interact with the women and even bought some snails, which he left in their custody to be taken up on his return from jogging.

While he was taking out money from his pocket to pay for the snails, the woman from whom he had bought the snails and a few others saw his sidearm tucked into his waist.

Soon after he left, one of the women telephoned the assembly member for Denkyira Obuasi to report what they had seen.

“Without verifying the information, the assembly member mobilised the accused persons and others, some now at large, to attack the military officer,” the prosecution stated.

It added that the mob met Major Mahama near the Denkyira Obuasi cemetery and, without giving him the opportunity to explain and identify himself, “attacked him with implements such as clubs, cement blocks and machetes, killed him and burnt a portion of his body”.

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