BY Issah Olegor
The Court of Appeal has set aside the conviction and life sentence imposed on former Assembly Member for Denkyira Obuasi, William Baah, bringing a dramatic legal twist to one of the most high-profile criminal cases linked to the 2017 killing of the late Major Maxwell Adam Mahama.
In a unanimous ruling delivered by a three-member appellate panel, the court found that the High Court’s verdict had been fundamentally flawed due to serious misdirection of the jury by the trial judge, Justice Mariama Owusu, a sitting Supreme Court Justice who presided over the matter as an additional High Court judge.
According to the Court of Appeal, the misdirection was so substantial that Baah’s conviction could not be allowed to stand.
The panel stated that the jury “would not have returned a verdict of guilt if they had been properly directed,” emphasizing that accurate guidance by the trial judge is essential in jury trials, particularly in complex murder and abetment cases.
Beyond the misdirection, the Appeal Court raised further concerns regarding reliance on cautioned statements of two co-accused persons, which had been admitted during the trial and used to implicate Baah.
The panel held that the trial judge erred in considering these statements since, by law, incriminating statements by one accused person cannot be used as evidence against another.
The appellate judges noted that the High Court “was bound to disregard the incriminating statements when directing the jury,” concluding that the failure to do so materially affected the fairness of the trial.
The Case
The case traces back to May 2017, when Major Maxwell Mahama, then a military officer stationed in Denkyira Obuasi, was lynched by a mob who mistook him for an armed robber after spotting his service weapon during a morning walk.
The incident shocked the nation and prompted widespread condemnation, leading to the arrest and prosecution of several residents of the community.
After years of pre-trial proceedings, a seven-member jury at the High Court in Accra delivered its verdict in January 2024.
Former Assembly Member William Baah—accused of allegedly mobilizing some residents after being informed about a suspected “armed robber” in the area—was found guilty of abetment of murder.
Eleven others, including Bernard Asamoah, Kofi Nyame, Akwasi Baah, Kwame Tuffuor, and several others, were convicted of conspiracy to commit murder.
Eight of the convicts were additionally found guilty of murder, and consequently handed severe sentences.
Two accused persons, Bismark Donkor and Bismarck Abanga, were acquitted and discharged after the jury found insufficient evidence connecting them to the crime.
Baah, dissatisfied with the verdict, proceeded to the Court of Appeal—where the panel has now ruled that the trial was compromised by grave legal errors, ultimately resulting in his release from the life sentence he had been serving.
