President Receives Family of Late Major Mahama

The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has expressed the government's intention to review and amend portions of the Criminal Act to address contemporary challenges.

He said crime had taken different dimensions since the enactment of the Act, especially with the rapid development of technology, and therefore stressed the need to amend it to enable the state fight crime effectively.

President Akufo-Addo made these remarks when the family of the late Major Maxwell Mahama called on him at the Jubilee House yesterday to thank him for the support and honour shown the late soldier since his unfortunate demise last year.

Major Mahama was mistaken for an armed robber by some youth at Denkyira Obuasi in the Central Region and was gruesomely lynched to death. The incident, which caused public outcry and subsequent investigation and prosecution of the persons involved, occurred about a year ago.

The President said the death of Major Mahama should be a wakeup call on the nation to review its criminal laws and, therefore, called for a national dialogue on the matter to guide the review process.

President Akufo-Addo's comment followed a call by Major Mahama's family to amend the criminal laws to address new challenges.

Speaking on behalf of Major Mahama's family, the spokesperson, Ahmed Zakaria Sakara, indicated that judging from legal processes, from the investigations, arrest, and the processes leading to court, it was imperative for the country's laws to be amended.

He said the Police arrested 50 people, but before the court hearing began, only 14 had been officially charged with Maxwell Mahama's murder.

He indicated that although the family appeared to be emotional about the issue, they felt that everyone who was present at the time of the murder, as well as those who urged the killers on, were as guilty as the offenders and should have been charged for murder.

Responding to the call, President Akufo-Addo noted that he supported the call, because at the time of writing the code, maybe there was no technology, but now there is, which means things have changed a lot.

The family of the late military officer expressed gratitude to the government for the manner in which the state had honoured him and the support for the family.

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