Mr Seth Nyarko, the Second Court Witness in the mini-trial involving 14 alleged murderers of the late Major Maxwell Mahama, has said no statement was imposed on Charles Kwaning, one of the accused persons.

“It is not true that the statement was imposed on Charles Kwaning,” he said.

The mini-trial was a result of objections from the Defence Counsel to the tendering of some cautioned and charged statements taken from Charles Kwaning.

Mr Bernard Shaw, Counsel for the first, second, fourth, eighth, 10th and the 12th accused persons objected initially to the tendering of statements of his clients, saying the statements were not voluntarily made by his clients.

Mr Theophilus Donkor, Defence Counsel for the 3rd and the 14th accused persons, also objected to the tendering of the statements.

Mr Nyarko, who was an independent witness when the statement was taken from Charles Kwaning, gave his evidence pertaining to whether the statement was made by the accused voluntarily or otherwise. He was subsequently cross-examined by the defence Counsel.

The witness told the Court presided over by Justice Mariama Owusu, a Supreme Court Judge, sitting as an additional High Court judge, that he had been working with the Ghana Police Service for 20 years.

He said it was Detective Chief Inspector Samuel Agyakwa, the investigator in the case, who called him to serve as an independent witness in the case.

Mr Nyarko said before the statement was taken from the accused person, the investigator cautioned Charles and asked whether he could write but he said the investigator should write, while he narrated what happened.

The witness said after the statement was written, the content was read to him, which he endorsed by thumb printing in agreement, which was done voluntarily.

“He gave the statement to the Police without fear or any intimidation, while speaking the Twi Language which was translated into written English,” he added.

A copy of the statement was shown to the witness in open Court, which he identified together with his signatures.

During cross-examination by Mr Augustine Gyamfi, Counsel for the accused, Kwaning, asked the witness, how many times he had served as an independent witness. He said many times.

The Defence Counsel stated that because the witness is a staff of the Ghana Police Service, he needed not to have been used as a witness, but Mr Nyarko disagreed.

Mr Theophilus Donkor, a Defence Counsel for the 3rd and the 14th accused persons asked the witness, what his rank was but the witness said he did not have a rank and that he was a supervisor in charge of civilian employees of the Service.

The witness disagreed with the Counsel that he was not an employee of the Ghana Police Service. He was therefore requested to bring a copy of his payslip to Court at the next adjourned date.

Mr Nyarko again disagreed with Mr Donkor that he was an informant for the Ghana Police Service.

Fourteen persons are standing trial at an Accra High Court over the killing of Major Mahama, who was an officer of the 5th Infantry Battalion, at Burma Camp.

The late Major was on duty at Denkyira-Obuasi in the Central Region when on May 29, 2017 some residents allegedly mistook him for an armed robber and lynched him.

The mob allegedly ignored his persistent plea that he was an officer of the Ghana Armed Forces.

The accused persons are: William Baah, the Assembly member of Denkyira Obuasi, Bernard Asamoah alias Daddy, Kofi Nyame a.k.a Abortion, Akwasi Boah, Kwame Tuffour, Joseph Appiah Kubi, Michael Anim and Bismarck Donkor.

The rest are: John Bosie, Akwasi Baah, Charles Kwaning, Emmanuel Badu, Bismarck Abanga and Kwadwo Anima.

The trial has been adjourned to May 24, 2021 for continuation.