’Major Mahama Trial Catalyst For Change’

 Godfred Yeboah Dame

 

The Attorney General and Minister For Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has indicated that the just concluded case of the 14 accused persons of the late Major Maxwell Adam Mahama’s death, has opened the gate for various reforms in Ghana’s criminal justice system.

He said the state was compelled to act swiftly in the wake of what he described as a horrific crime that shocked the conscience of the nation to act swiftly, in ensuring that such acts never occur again.

He alluded to the Vigilantism Act as one of those reforms “to deal with offences as a result of vigilantism, and to send a message to the world that such acts ought not to be repeated, and have no place in the Ghanaian system.”

Mr. Dame said this when he received a delegation from the family of the slain soldier who was lynched by a mob in May 2017, in Denkyira Obuasi in the Central Region.

Last Monday, 12 persons were found guilty of conspiracy, abetment and murder of Major Mahama, and were sentenced to life imprisonment by a High Court in Accra. Two other persons were acquitted and discharged.

Mr. Dame, addressing the late soldier’s family in his office yesterday, said the length of time it took to conclude the trial has also resulted in further amendment of the criminal procedure laws.

This, he said includes a Bill which is currently before Cabinet, and seeks to reform the criminal justice system of the country to ensure that all the delay that occur in criminal justice system are eliminated.

“We are seeking to reform the jury system, and I think that it’s because of the jury system that the trial lasted this long. So it has actually provoked an examination of the jury system for us to see whether there can be better ways of going about justice delivery without the involvement of a jury. I personally think that the jury system ought to be eliminated,” the Attorney General said.

He said it has been a long drawn out process which has taken about six years to have justice served, but the good thing is that the prosecution team stayed the course, and they had justice dispensed in accordance with the laws of Ghana.

The reforms, he said, also include a move not to make it compulsory in the case of murder as it is now, so that the Attorney General can recommend to the court, the manner of trial to be adopted – whether it should be the judge or the jury that conducts the case.

“We have also recommended the introduction of alternative jurors, so that if one juror is absent as we saw a number of times in your case, the trial would not be held up, there can be alternative jurors who can substitute that juror,” Mr. Dame disclosed.

Mr. Dame also assured the entourage that the government would continue to support the family of the late soldier, as promised.

Mother of the late Major Mahama, Madam Veronica Bamford, recounted the mental torture she had to endure, and the effect it had on her.

She was, however, relieved that justice had been done, and hoped that with time, she will fully overcome the struggles brought on her by the loss of her son.

Madam Bamford was not happy with the state of the son’s tomb, and appealed to the Attorney General to see to it that it is kept in a good shape.

The late Major Mahama’s uncle, Kaleonah Tizzala, said the conclusion and verdict in the trial brings relief to the family, “not because whatever sentence was pronounced would bring back our son, but it would make us feel better that the end would be a deterrent to people who may ever think of taking the law into their own hands, and brutally, sadistically murder any innocent son or daughter of some other person. This is why we are very happy with the end result.”

BY Gibril Abdul Razak

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