The head of Captain Maxwell A. Mahama’s family says the late soldier was good enough to have shot and killed his attackers, but decided to exercise restraint just as the way he was brought up.
Chief Kasseh recalled that Capt. Mahama was adjudged the best sniper when he graduated from the military academy and was one of the country’s best snipers. He was talking to the media after a high level government delegation led by the Vice President Dr. Bawumia and army chiefs visited the family of Capt. Mahama at the Arakan officers mess at Burma Camp in Accra.
He expressed the gratitude of the family to government and Ghanaians for rallying behind them, supporting them in their loss. We want peace The family head backed calls by the military high command for all, especially the late captain’s colleague soldiers, to remain calm. “I expect that may be there should be no further bloodshed, we don’t want it, we just need peace. I am sure whoever did it is also regretting of having done that,” he said.
Having worked in a number of organisations and for the state as a peace volunteer, Chief Kasseh recounted how he had always taught Capt. Mahama to live peacefully with others. “We are peace-loving people, we have trained this boy to be very peaceful wherever he is. I have always visited the military academy while he was training and I have educated him on how to handle people,” he noted. “For my own grandchild I have brought him up this way to be killed in cold blooded…”Chief Kasseh said with a trembling voice.
“He is one of the snipers. I was at his graduation and he got a prize for it. He could have finished all those people, but their rules and regulations, he sacrificed his life for their lives.” He was also not happy about the utterances of the District Chief Executive (DCE) for the Upper Denkyira West, Daniel Appianing who have been making certain comments that sought to justify the lynching of Captain Mahama. “It is one of my major concerns, it did not augur well for us as a family,” he pointed out.
The late Capt. Mahama who was with the 5th Infantry of the Ghana Armed Forces and the detachment commander of troops on operational duties in the area was cruelly murdered by residents of Denkyira-Obuasi who suspected him to be an armed robber when they found him jogging with a pistol at about 8:30 am on Monday. Videos about how he was lynched show an exhausted Capt. Mahama chased by the mob to a place where he was seen pleading with them and trying to negotiate with them not to kill him, but they would not budge, striking him with all kinds of objects.