Why Court of Appeal freed Assemblyman in Major Mahama murder case
21st November 2025
Freed William Baah
The Court of Appeal has overturned the conviction and life sentence of former Denkyira Obuasi Assembly Member, William Baah, ruling that the trial judge gravely misdirected the jury in the case involving the murder of Major Maxwell Adam Mahama.
Delivering his concurring opinion, Justice Dr. Ernest Owusu-Dapaah stressed that the judiciary must uphold the law regardless of public emotion.
“We are sad about the death of Major Maxwell Mahama, but we have sworn a judicial oath and justice demands more than public sentiments,” he said.
Justice Owusu-Dapaah explained that the legal threshold for abetment was not met in Baah’s case.
“Abetment requires intentional association. Merely being associated with an offence is not sufficient,” he noted.
He added that there was “no direct or any evidence” showing that Baah instructed residents to arm themselves or convened a meeting that led to the attack.
Baah was convicted alongside 11 others in a 2023 ruling by Justice Mariama Owusu, then a Supreme Court Justice sitting as a High Court judge. However, the three-member appellate panel ruled that the trial judge’s direction to the jury was fundamentally flawed.
Reading the lead judgment, Justice Christopher Archer described the error as severe.
“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,” he said.
A key issue was the trial court’s reliance on caution statements from two accused persons implicating Baah—statements the Court of Appeal said were inadmissible.
“The caution statement of an accused person which implicates another must be made in the presence of the one implicated,” the court stated.
“The judge was bound to disregard the incriminating statements when directing the jury.”
The panel also noted that the statements relied upon were “full of inconsistencies and suspicions.”
Other members of the panel were Justice David Boafo, with George Benard Shaw representing Baah.
Background of the Case
Prosecutors had argued that Major Mahama, commander of a military detachment deployed to Diaso to combat illegal mining, was jogging on May 29, 2017, when he stopped to buy snails from roadside vendors at Denkyira Obuasi.
When the women saw his sidearm, one called Baah to report that an armed stranger had passed through.
“Without verifying the information, the assembly member mobilised the accused persons and others… to attack the military officer,” the prosecution stated.
The mob confronted Major Mahama near the town cemetery and, according to the prosecutors, “attacked him with clubs, cement blocks and machetes, killed him and burnt a portion of his body.”
With the appellate ruling, Baah is now cleared of the abetment charge, marking a major reversal in one of Ghana’s most widely followed criminal cases.