Major Mahama Trial: There is no pressure on the Police to investigate case

The First Court Witness in the mini-trial involving 14 alleged murderers of Major Maxwell Mahama, says there is no pressure on the Police to produce results in the investigations.

Detective Chief Inspector Samuel Agyakwa said the Police investigators conducted the investigation concerning the alleged murder of the late Major as a normal investigation.

Detective Chief Inspector Agyakwa, who was the 14th Prosecution Witness in the substantive case, was being cross-examined in a mini trail led by Mr George Bernard Shaw.

The mini-trial came about as a result of objections from the Defence Counsel to the tendering of some caution and charge statements taken from the accused persons.

Mr Shaw, the Counsel for the first, second, fourth, eighth, 10th and the 12th, objected initially to the tendering of statements of his clients, saying they were not voluntarily taken from them.

Mr Theophilus Donkor, a Defence Counsel for the 3rd and the 14th accused persons, also objected to the tendering of the statements.

Mr Shaw said there was real pressure on the investigation team to get results by arresting the perpetrators but the witness disagreed.

Asked, whether the witness remembered the then IGP and the Police PR together with the Central Regional Police Commander, all addressed the media through press conferences and briefing when the matter broke out, the witness said, 'l remember the Police PR speaking on the matter but l do not remember the IGP speaking."

The Counsel pointed to the witness that at a press conference, the Police promised Ghanaians to do their best to bring the perpetrators to book and the Detective agreed.

The witness told the Court, he was not aware the media had a big interest in the case but the Counsel told the Court that, the Media had “a big interest” as well as social media.

Detective Chief Inspector Agyakwa agreed that because the case was trending on social media, it led the Police to retrieve the video and subsequently effecting the arrest of many of the suspects.

He again agreed with the Counsel that most of them were released because of lack of evidence but there was no pressure on the Police.

The witness disagreed with Mr Shaw that there were no witnesses to the murder of the late Major Mahama, saying there were witnesses.

The Counsel asked the witness whether the identities of the perpetrators were at the heart of the investigations and he answered in the affirmative.

"So that is why you told us of the video from social media helped you in your investigations," Mr Shaw asked, and the witness said it was part of the investigations.

The Counsel told the Court that the Police Officer breached the Police Service Instructions 195 that dealt with identification, of which the witness said he was aware.

He Shaw suggested to the witness as an Officer that he was not supposed to take part in the actual identification exercise but the witness said "the video was watched by a team of investigators, together with the suspects."

Detective Chief Inspector Agyakwa told the Court that he was the lead investigator and “the video was in my possession, so they watched it together”.

Mr Augustine Gyamfi, Counsel for Akwasi Boah, in a cross-examination, asked the witness whether before taking the accused person's statement, he had an earlier statement from him in his custody and he if knew the contents, he answered in the affirmative.

Asked, how many people were in the room when the statement was taken, the witness said he was there with an independent witness together with his Station Officer but the Counsel disagreed.

Mr Gyamfi said there were more than seven uniformed Police Officers, some with guns, but the witness also disagreed.

The witness explained that there was a team of interrogators in the room before he took over.

Fourteen persons are standing trial at an Accra High Court over the killing of Major Mahama, who was an officer of the 5th Infantry Battalion, at Burma Camp.

The late Major was on duty at Denkyira-Obuasi in the Central Region when on May 29, 2017, some residents allegedly mistook him for an armed robber and lynched him.

The mob had ignored his persistent plea that he was an officer of the Ghana Armed Forces.

The accused are William Baah, the Assemblymember of Denkyira Obuasi, Bernard Asamoah alias Daddy, Kofi Nyame a.k.a Abortion, Akwasi Boah, Kwame Tuffour, Joseph Appiah Kubi, Michael Anim and Bismarck Donkor.

Others are John Bosie, Akwasi Baah, Charles Kwaning, Emmanuel Badu, Bismarck Abanga and Kwadwo Anima.

The trial was adjourned to May 17, 2021, for continuation.