I tried to rescue Major Mahama - Accused claims, but prosecution disputes it
One of the 14 persons accused of killing Major Maxwell Adam Mahama claims he rather tried to rescue the military officer during his alleged lynching.
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Charles Kwaning testified before the Accra High Court Monday [April 3, 2023] that he prevented another person from shooting Major Mahama and also tried to prevent others from assaulting the soldier with stones and cement blocks.
However, the prosecutor, Mrs Frances Mullen Ansah, a Chief State Attorney, relying on pictures captured from the video depicting the lynching, put to Kwaning that he pointed a gun at the military officer and played an integral part in the killing.
The prosecutor further put it to the accused person that he was not being truthful to the court, referencing alleged inconsistencies in his testimony to the court and the statements he gave to the police when he was arrested.
Alleged lynching
Major Mahama was killed at Denkyira Obuasi in the Central Region on May 29, 2017.
He was said to have been lynched during a morning walk that led him to the community.
Fourteen people, including the then Assembly Man for the area, William Baah, are standing trial in connection with the death of the military officer.
They have all pleaded not guilty to charges ranging from murder, abetment to murder, and conspiracy to commit murder.
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Testimony
Opening his defence, Kwaning, the 11th accused person, told the court that he was a vulcanizer living and plying his trade at Denkyira Obuasi when the lynching of Major Mahama occurred.
He said on May 29, 2017, he saw Baah (Assembly Man) and another person on motorbike at full speed not long after he reached his shop at about 8 a.m.
According to him, Baah said he was at school teaching when two women called to inform him that someone with a pistol was approaching the town.
He said he joined the men, and not long after they caught up with Major Mahama who was walking briskly.
Kwaning claimed Major Mahama pointed a gun at them, which made him to run to escape.
He said later, one Yaw Amankwah and another person came to the scene with guns, started calling Major Mahama thief and then exchanged gun shots with the military officer.
He said he run to his shop through the cemetery of the town.
Assault
Kwaning testified that not long after, many people including women and children rushed to the main town square, carrying sticks, and throwing stones, amidst shouting of “thief!, thief!, thief!”
He claimed that when he got to the centre of the town, he saw people assaulting Major Mahama with sticks, concrete blocks and iron rods, and he shouted at them to stop, adding that “I told them it is ok, the assault is ok”.
Led by his lawyer, Augustine Gyamfi, Kwaning further claimed that he tried to stop the assault, but the crowd was overwhelming.
He said he took a gun from the said Amankwah to prevent him from firing at Major Mahama.
Cross-examination
During the cross-examination, the prosecutor, Mrs Mullen Ansah, projected pictures that showed Kwaning pointing a gun at Major Mahama as the military officer gasped for breath.
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This is what ensued between the prosecutor and Kwaning:
- Prosecutor: Are you the one in the red shirt and black trousers with the gun?
- Kwaning: Yes, but I had uncorked and folded the butt of the gun.
- Prosecutor: From the photo album, it is clearly seen that you had pointed a gun at Captain Mahama.
- Kwaning: I did not point at him.
- Prosecutor: I’m putting it to you that from your body posture in the picture, you pointed the gun at Major Mahama.
- Kwaning: That is not true
The prosecutor further asked the accused whether he told the police after his arrest on June 2, 2017, that he (Kwaning) was in Kumasi on the fateful day Major Mahama was killed.
Kwaning anwered in the negative.
Mrs Mullen Ansah then asked the accused whether he had told the police that on May 29, 2017, he (Kwaning) was not at Denkyira Obuasi but was in Kumasi to supposedly buy car tyres.
Interestingly, Kwaning answered in the affirmative.
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“Then you cannot deny that you told the police that you had travelled on May 29, 2017, which is completely different from what you have told the court today,” the prosecutor queried.
Kwaning answered that he rather said that when the incident happened, he went to Kumasi and when he got back to Denkyira Obuasi, he learnt soldiers were all over the town, so he run away.
The cross-examination continues on April 17, 2023, at the court presided over by Justice Mariama Owusu, a Justice of the Supreme Court sitting as an additional High Court judge.
Writer’s email: emma.hawkson@graphic.com.gh