The Court of Appeal has acquitted and discharged William Baah, the former Denkyira Obuasi Assemblyman who was previously sentenced to life imprisonment for abetting the lynching of Major Maxwell Mahama.

In a unanimous judgement on Thursday, November 20, 2025, the three-member panel held that the trial judge, Justice Mariama Owusu, then Justice of the Supreme Court, sitting with additional responsibility as a High Court Judge, misdirected the jury to arrive at a guilty verdict for the assemblyman.

Major Mahama’s death: The full story

According to a graphic.com.gh report, the court said that “The midsection of the High Court judge was grave. The jury would not have returned a verdict of guilt if they had been properly directed.”

The court ruled that the trial court made an error by relying on the cautioned statements of two accused persons to incriminate the assemblyman.

It held that if a cautioned statement by one accused person implicates another, it must be made in the presence of the person being implicated.

The court added that such a statement can only be used against the person who made it, not against a co-accused.

“The Judge was bound to disregard the incriminating statements when directing the jury,” the court said.

The court also noted that the statements of the two accused persons, which the trial court relied on, were filled with inconsistencies and raised serious doubts.

Background

Twelve of the fourteen individuals implicated in the trial concerning the murder of Major Maxwell Mahama, including William Baah, were sentenced to life imprisonment on Thursday, January 25, 2024.

Major Mahama tragically lost his life in a lynching incident at Denkyira-Obuasi on May 29, 2017, while on duty, after he was reportedly mistaken for an armed robber.

Major Mahama’s case: Denkyira Obuasi in a ‘state of mourning’ over assemblyman’s life imprisonment sentence

Following the appalling event, more than fifty suspects were apprehended, with fourteen eventually selected for prosecution. Among them were William Baah, then-Assemblyman for Denkyira Obuasi, Bernard Asamoah (also known as Daddy), Kofi Nyame (alias Abortion), Akwasi Boah, Kwame Tuffour, Joseph Appiah Kubi, Michael Anim, and Bismarck Donkor.

The remaining defendants include John Bosie, Akwasi Baah, Charles Kwaning, Emmanuel Badu, Bismarck Abanga, and Kwadwo Anima.

MAG/MA

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