The demise of Major Mahama; any lessons learnt?

A young, and potentially very bright star, was extinguished recently in my homeland Ghana through mob justice. The perpetrators of this heinous act have claimed it was a case of mistaken identity; they had mistaken the Army Captain for an armed robber, because a weapon was seen on him while he was jogging in civilian clothing.

As expected, this very unfortunate event caused the kind of supernova associated with the end of every big star. So, nearly everybody is talking and crying about it! But very few people are asking the question...how did we get into this sordid state of affairs?

Many "unnatural" disasters, such as one that has befallen us, don't "creep up" on us, they unfold slowly! Nevertheless, they happen and their effects hit us hard! Why?

Well, Ghanaians usually do nothing about potential disasters until they have struck with devastating consequences. Is that even enough to get us to act? NO! Only occasionally an "important" life is claimed by such a disaster and only then the whole nation goes topsy-turvy, and sadly for a few days or weeks only, after which we go back to wait for another disaster to strike. Such is the nature of my countrymen!

The demise of Maj. Mahama reminds me of the death of Prof. Kyei-Aboagye. The late Prof. Kwabena Kyei-Aboagye was the Dean of the School of Medicine and Health Sciences at the UDS. He died when he was crushed by a speeding Metro Mass Transit bus while he was driving out of campus one evening. After his demise, speed humps were constructed at that intersection. Now traffic from campus joins the main road smoothly!

Speed humps reduce speed of traffic approaching such intersections, this is a no-brainer! Yet, it had to cost us a Professor who had decided to return home to help after a long and successful career in the USA.

I believe it was this same "system failure" that led to the demise of Major Mahama.

In Ghana, mob justice is not unheard of in many parts of the country particularly in major cities. I dare say that had Maj. Mahama, been an ordinary person, not many people would have given a thought to the events unfolding today or even heard about it. In fact, had he been an armed robber, many Ghanaian would have even applauded the actions of the community that lynched him, sad, isn't it? Such is the hypocritical nature of our society!

I have heard some people claim that a lack of confidence in the judicial system, fuelled by high levels of corruption among the police and judicial services, is to blame for the rise in mob justice in recent times.

Like in the case of Prof. Kyei-Aboagye, maybe now that our inaction has cost us a promising young soldier, a father to two children, a husband to a wife, a son to someone, a colleague to many soldiers, a friend to many... just maybe, we shall do what we should have done long ago!

Alas, knowing my people, I know that after a few weeks of mourning and lamenting our loss, we shall go back to doing what we do best, gathering money in whatever way and form it comes.

IT IS MY HOPE THAT WE LEARN FROM THIS TRAGEDY so that the painful departure of this gallant son of the land will not be in vain! May his gentle soul rest in peace! ADIEU MAJOR MAXWELL ADAM MAHAMA!