The Court of Appeal has set aside the conviction of former Assembly Member for Denkyira Obuasi, William Baah, who had been serving a life sentence for allegedly aiding in the murder of the late Major Maxwell Adam Mahama.
In a unanimous decision, a three-member panel ruled that the trial judge, Justice Mariama Owusu — then a Supreme Court Justice sitting as a High Court judge — misdirected the jury, resulting in a wrongful verdict.
According to the appellate court, the misdirection was so critical that “the jury would not have returned a verdict of guilt if they had been properly directed.”
The panel further noted that the High Court erred in relying on cautioned statements from two accused persons that implicated Baah. “The Judge was bound to disregard the incriminating statements when directing the jury,” the ruling stated, adding that the errors were serious enough to nullify the conviction.
Baah was among 12 individuals tried in connection with the 2017 mob killing of Major Mahama. In January 2024, a seven-member jury at the High Court in Accra found him guilty of abetment of murder. Eleven others, including Bernard Asamoah, Kofi Nyame, Akwasi Baah, and Kwame Tuffuor, were convicted of conspiracy to commit murder.
Eight of those convicted were additionally found guilty of murder, while two accused persons — Bismark Donkor and Bismarck Abanga — were acquitted and discharged.
The Court of Appeal’s ruling marks a significant turn in one of Ghana’s most high-profile criminal cases in recent years, reopening debate over judicial directions and the handling of evidence in jury trials.
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