Major Maxwell Mahama was brutally lynched in 2017, and one of the 14 people accused of his murder has acknowledged to bashing the deceased military officer in the head with a brick during the attack.
But, Akwasi Baah testified before an Accra High Court on Tuesday that the deceased soldier was already dead when he struck his head with the cement block. Akwasi Baah was led in as evidence by his counsel to submit his evidence-in-chief.
According to a Dailyguidenetwork.com report seen by GhanaWeb, the accused told the court that he was not there when the mob attacked Major Mahama but that he subsequently arrived at the scene after he had been battered to death. The accused was reportedly led by George Bernard Shaw.
The suspect said that he had been the victim of a robbery the day before the incident and that when he arrived at the scene of the lynching, he noticed that the deceased was sporting a boot that matched one of his attackers’ outfits from the robbery he had endured.
On May 28, 2017, while traveling from Dunkwa-on-Offin to Obuasi, Akwasi Baah testified in court that a group of armed robbers ambushed the vehicle he was riding in.
He claimed that armed bandits had blocked the road and hijacked the automobile after ordering the occupants to get out. The thieves then searched every passenger inside the car before fleeing.
He narrated that while he was at home the next day, he heard a noise and was informed that an armed robber had shot a young man in the foot and he had been taken to the clinic so he decided to go to the clinic to find out if the person was his relative.
He left the clinic upon finding out that the young man was not related to him and ten minutes after leaving the clinic, he heard an armed robber had been killed so he went to the scene where the incident occurred.
The suspect said he found at the scene the very gun that was used to rob him the previous day and also saw the deceased wearing the same boots that was used in kicking him during the robbery.
“This made me pick up a block and hit the deceased,” he recounted.
Chief State Attorney, Frances Mullen Ansah who led the prosecution during the cross-examination of the suspect, replayed a video of the gruesome lynching of the deceased in court.
Akwasi Baah while under questioning by the prosecution, identified himself as the person who smashed the head of the late Major Mahama who lay motionless at the time.
The suspect admitted that due to the heavy weight of the block, he had to carry it with his two hands but denied that he smashed the head of the deceased soldier on purpose.