Accra, Feb. 15, – The
Criminal Division of the Accra High Court on Thursday adjourned the hearing of
the case involving the murder of Major Maxwell Mahama to March 5 this year.
Fourteen persons are standing
trial for the murder of the Major who was lynched by a mob at Dankyirah-Obuasi
in the Central Region, who mistook him to be an armed robber.
The court presided over by Ms
Mariama Owusu, a Court of Appeal Judge, sitting as an additional High Court
Judge, said the adjournment is to enable the court to constitute a jury and
also to enable the parties to prepare adequately for the trial to commence.
Initially, when the case was
called the accused were not immediately present, which Mrs Evelyn Keelson, a
Chief State Attorney explained to the court that their absence was due to
issues of transportation.
She assured the court that the
Police were resolving the problem to enable the accused appear, eventually
while the proceedings was on going the accused were dully brought to the court.
Mrs Keelson therefore prayed the
court for a two-week adjournment for consultation with other parties.
She also prayed the court for a
committal warrant to be issued to the Prison Authorities for the commencement
of the trial.
The court, therefore advised some
of the accused, who are still not represented by lawyers to intensify their
engagement for a lawyer before the next sitting.
Seven out of the 14 accused had
not been able to engage the services of lawyers to defend them.
On January 11, 2018, the 14 were
committed by an Accra Central District Court, which found that there was enough
evidence against them to stand trial on the charges preferred against them.
They were among 22 persons
arraigned before the court on charges of murder and conspiracy to commit
murder.
Eight of the suspects were
however, discharged as according to the Attorney General’s Office, there was
not enough evidence linking them to the crime.
Major Mahama, an Officer of the
5th Infantry Battalion at the Burma Camp was on duty at Dankyira-Obuasi. On May
29, 2017 some residents lynched him allegedly mistaking him to be an armed
robber because he had a pistol in his back pocket.
The mob ignored his consistent
plea that he was an officer of the Ghana Armed Forces.
GNA
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