An Accra High Court presided over by Her Ladyship, Mrs. Mariama Owusu has said that the challenge of not being able to secure legal representation by five Accused persons in the murder trial of Major Maxwell Mahama was delaying hearing.
The five Accused persons: Kofi Nyame, Joseph Appiah, John Boasi, Bismark Abanga and Kwadwo Anim have given reasons that they have been constrained by finances and also have no one to help them secure the services of lawyers.
Mr. Bernard Shaw, counsel for the 1st, 2nd, 8th, 10th, 12th and 4th Accused persons has said that he has spoken to some human rights lawyers and was yet to receive feedback.
He added that he had been engaging the Ghana Bar Association as well to solicit for the services of lawyers to represent the aforementioned Accused persons.
The judge has also said that getting members for the jury has been a challenge and has also contributed to the delay of the trial.
She explained that the jury is to be made up of a total of 13 or 15 members, but the court did not want to take the risk of panelling older people who will retire in 2 years (considering how long the trial may take).
In an interview with the spokesperson of Major Mahama’s family, Zakaria Sakara Amin, said the family understood the nature of trials in Ghana and how long they take.
He added that in seeking justice, judicial processes must not be overlooked.
Mr. Amin said that the family has been trying to decided what should be done to commemorate the anniversary of the passing of Major Maxwell Mahama.
“We were expecting more people facing trial than we have, looking at the number of people we saw in the video”, the family spokesperson said.
He added that mob injustice and mob actions should result in mob trials.
Mr. Amin lamented that even he saw close to 50 people in the act, only 14 have been arraigned before court for committal.
“We would have wished that everyone we saw in the video would come to court to explain himself or herself”, he added.
The case has been adjourned to 21st March, 2018.
Source: Ghanajustice/F.Kyeremanteng
