Major Mahama trial: Denkyira Obuasi Assemblyman acquitted by the Court of Appeal

Former Denkyira Obuasi assemblyman William Baah, who was given a life sentence for aiding and abetting Major Maxwell Mahama’s murder, has been found not guilty and acquitted.

Baah was acquitted when a three-person panel of the Court of Appeal unanimously decided that the trial judge had misled the jury into finding Baah guilty.

As a result, it declared Baah not guilty and overturned the conviction for aiding and abetting murder.

The Court found that the prosecution’s proof was insufficient to prove the appellant’s conviction.

The Court of Appeal stated that the court should not have relied on the cautionary remarks of two witnesses in order to condemn the assemblyman, pointing out some contradictions and doubts in their testimony.

It stated that the trial court’s misdirection was serious since there was no proof that Baah had assisted in the crime and no eyewitnesses to support this claim.

The three-person panel denounced the lynching deed and declared that it should never occur again.

The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) was encouraged to increase public education on preventing lynching in communities after the court ruled that no one has the legal right to lynch a person.

Twelve people were convicted guilty in January of last year of aiding and abetting the murder of the late Major Maxwell Adams Mahama, who was brutally lynched by a mob in Denkyira Obuasi nearly seven years ago.

Due to illicit mining operations in the area, a 31-member military force led by Major Mahama was dispatched to the town to protect C&G Mining Company’s properties.

When a snail vendor noticed his side arm, the locals mistook him for an armed robber. As a result, his captors viciously attacked him and burned his body to ensure he was dead.

William Baah (now acquitted) and Bernard Asamoah, were found guilty for conspiracy to commit murder, while Kofi Nyame, Akwasi Baah, Kwame Tuffuor, Joseph Appiah Kubi, Michael Anim, John Boasie, Akwesi Asante, Charles Kwaning, Emmanuel Baidoo and Kwadzo Animah were found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder and the substantive charge of murder by a seven-member jury yesterday.

However, Baah appealed the conviction and sentencing through Mr. Bernard Shaw, his attorney.

When Baah and a few family members heard the Court of Appeal’s ruling, they started crying.

However, he was returned to prison to finish the legal documents necessary for his release.

Source: Ghanatodayonline.com