The trial of 14 Accused persons in the case of the late Major Maxwell Adams Mahama has began, with the Prosecution calling their first witness to testify.
The proceedings suffered several shortcomings before getting to the trial stage.
A seven- member jury has also been constituted for the trial.
The first prosecution Witness WOII Sebi, Kwesi gave his account of what happened on 29th May, 2017, the day Major Mahama was lynched.
According to the first prosecution Witness, on 29th May, 2017, at about 8:30 a.m., he was on the veranda of the quarters where they were camping at Denchira Diaso when the deceased told him that he was going for a walk. According to the first prosecution Witness, the deceased was in an grey track suit and had his earphones in his ears, with his pistol hooked around his hip.
The Witness added that the deceased told him that he usually took the right route but that day he was going to take the left route and so he may keep long. According to the first prosecution Witness, later the kitchen staff called the phone of the deceased to tell him that his food was ready around 9:30 a.m. but his phone was off.
“Around 2 pm, one Mr. Donald, Head of C&G Mining Company called me on phone and asked me whether all the military personnel were in the house. I told Mr. Donald that those on duty had left and the rest of us were at home excluding Major Maxwell Adams Mahama, who had gone for a walk”, the witness said.
He added that later Mr. Donald called and asked if he had called Major Mahama and he told Mr Donald that he had called him but his phone was still switched off. WOII Sebi said Mr. Donald called the third time and told him that someone had been shot.
Objection was raised by Defence Counsel, Patrick Anim Addo and Counsel George Bernard Shaw associated himself with the objection.
The objection was that, reporting that Mr Donald had told him that someone had been shot was hearsay.
According to the Prosecutor, Chief State Attorney, Evelyn Keelson, the witness was not testifying about the authenticity of the event, rather he was reporting something Mr. Donald told him directly and not confirming it to be true.
The presiding judge Her Ladyship Mariama Owusu overruled the objection.
In continuing his testimony, the first prosecution witness said when he got the information that someone had been shot he was shocked. He then asked for a vehicle from Mr. Donald and Mr Donald gave him a ‘pick up’.
The first prosecution witness said that he picked 3 soldiers and a civilian driver and went with them to the Dunkwa General Hospital where he heard the body had been deposited.
He added that when they got to the hospital he asked a nurse about a person who had been shot and brought there and the nurse showed him someone who was shot in the left leg, but the person the nurse showed to them was not Major Maxwell Mahama.
The first prosecution witness said that another nurse told them that an armed robber had been killed and his body had been deposited at the mortuary.
According to the first prosecution witness, he together with the other soldiers went to the mortuary to see the mortuary warden, and when the mortuary warden opened the door he was shock when he identified the alleged armed robber to be the late Major Maxwell Mahama.
The first prosecution witness said he had a call and when he answered the phone it was the 2nd Battalion Commanding Officer, Colonel Nyanteh of Takoradi, who told him that he had heard that one of the military men had been shot.
The first prosecution witness said he answered in the affirmative and confirmed it to be true because he had seen the body of Major Maxwell Mahama.
The Witness added that Colonel Nyanteh told him to go back to where they were camping and ask the soldiers to stay there and that he was going to come from Takoradi to Denchira Diaso. According to the first persecution witness he got to where they were camping and did as he was told.
The case has been adjourned to 24th May, 2018.
Source: GhanaJustice/F.Kyeremateng
