Instant justice is injustice - Jackie Appiah

Actress Jackie Appiah is the latest to condemn the gruesome killing of army Captain Maxwell Adam Mahama by a group of irate youth at Denkyira Obuasi on Monday, 29 May, 2017.

The mob mistook the soldier for an armed robber and lynched him after a group of people he asked directions from while jogging spotted a pistol on him.

Miss Appiah, in a statement posted on her Facebook wall condemning the killing, said: “Instant justice is not justice.”

According to her, although Ghanaians do not trust the police and justice system and the process of seeking justice is slow and imperfect, it is better than resorting to instant justice where most victims turn out to be innocent.

Jackie’s message of condemnation read:

“Sorrow fills my heart this morning. I've tried to avoid watching the video but I finally saw it and indeed, I haven't seen anything more heart wrenching and gruesome in my life. I can't keep silent.

How a young, innocent, vibrant and accomplished family man was given the worst form of death possible. Smashed like an animal, bludgeoned to death within the blink of an eye without even being heard out. Transitioning from a handsome man to an unrecognisable being.

“Indeed, I am deeply upset and sorrowful. I've never met this man and I feel this way. I can only imagine what his wife, oh God, his wife and his family must be feeling now. THIS WICKEDNESS MUST END! We are worse than the armed robbers or thieves we think they are when we dish out this barbarism to them.

“You look at your fellow human being in the eye and hit him with huge blocks even when he is down and dying especially when he has done nothing to you and you think you're better than an armed robber? You think you're better than a thief? You're the scum of the earth. You're lower than an animal. At least animals kill to eat, what benefit does killing an innocent man have for you?

“We have all heard or seen of stories where the innocent have been lynched only for the perpetrators to find out after the murder that he or she was innocent. From the days of the lynching of people, because someone alleged they touched them and their genitals got lost till now, these heinous mob killings have been a part of the Ghanaian 'people's justice'.

“Social media has enabled us to see it in all its gory inhuman detail with Captain Max's case. IT MUST BE THE LAST! We cannot continue like this as a nation. We call ourselves a peaceful nation yet do wicked things to our fellow citizens, even one who had given his life to serve and protect us? Don't demonise just the people of that town. This has happened in almost every town in this country before. There needs to be a national change of attitude towards so called 'instant justice'.

“INSTANT JUSTICE IS NO JUSTICE! INSTANT JUSTICE IS INJUSTICE! It could have been any of us. This was in broad daylight. All it would take would be for someone to shout 'thief! thief! at you and you're done. Nothing you say or do will save you. He was a soldier and had a gun yet look how they slaughtered him. If a soldier trained in combat and carrying a gun could be brutally murdered like this then how about you and I who are just civilians? Instant justice is a threat to all of us.

“We must stand up and speak against it. There's a reason we pay taxes to have the police and a court system. If we trusted our police and justice system and handed 'alleged' criminals to them, Captain Maxwell would be alive today. Yes it may seem slow and imperfect at times but it is better than this.

“Let us focus on building a better justice system if we don't like this one rather than taking the law into our own hands. As long as we live in a country where no one is safe, no one is safe. My condolences to Captain Maxwell Adam Mahama's family. May his death not be in vain, may we each take it upon ourselves to make sure it isn't. We must use the outrage and sorrow it's generated to force ourselves to eliminate instant justice or mob lynching from our country. Again, INSTANT JUSTICE IS INJUSTICE.”