In what is a first since Major Maxwell Mahama died, the man captured in a viral video of the murder of the soldier dropping a heavy block on him has spoken
Akwasi Baah told the court on Tuesday, February 28, 2023, that he thought the fast-rising young military man was an armed robber
Baah and about 40 to 50 young men of Denkyira-Obuasi in the Central Region lynched the military man in 2017 in an incident that horrified the country
A young man who was captured dropping a heavy stone in the heart-wrenching viral video of the lynching of Major Maxwell Mahama has confessed in court.
Akwasi Baah was among a group of about 50 young people in a village in the Central Region who lynched a fast-rising personnel of the Ghana Armed Forces in 2017.
During a court proceeding to hear murder charges brought against suspects in the dastardly event at Denkyira-Obuasi on May 29, 2017, Akwasi claimed Major Mahama had been killed before he also attacked him with the stone.
Suspects in the murder case being escorted to court (L) and an old photo of the late Major Maxwell Mahama. Source: Facebook/@gafrecruitment2 and Twitter/@Graphicgh Source: UGC
According to a court report on the proceedings by Daily Guide on February 28, 2023, Akwasi claims he thought the military man in mufti and carrying a sidearm was an armed robber.
Akwasi Baah told the court that he had been a victim of a robbery incident the night before.
He claimed in that robbery incident on May 28, he and other passengers were robbed while they were travelling into Denkyira-Obuasi.
Baah told the court that armed robbers blocked the road and attacked them before stealing from them, adding that one of the robbers was wearing a military boot and brandished a pistol.
He said because of his bitter experience the night before when he heard that an armed robber wearing a military boot and carrying a pistol had been caught, he was sure the late Major Mahama was among the robbers.
The state prosecutor, Frances Mullen Ansah, got the court to play the horrific video just to establish that Akwasi Baah was the man who infamously dropped the heavy stone on the soldier's head.
Prof Gyampo condemns justice system over Major Mahama's trial
Meanwhile, YEN.com.gh reported in a related story in May 2022 that political Science lecturer, Professor Ransford Gyampo, criticised Ghana's judicial system for the slow pace of the trial of the murder case.
The senior lecturer at the University of Ghana 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 delay in court then ordinary citizens of Ghana are "just like fowls".