…As Ex-DCE cools off at Ghana Maritime Authority in hiding
Charles Kwaning, one of the alleged murderers of Major Maxwell Mahama, has denied his active involvement in the lynching of the Army Officer.
The State identified the accused person in the amateur video wearing a red T-shirt and a long-short holding at one point a gun and on the other hand a stick, but he denied his own identity.
Captain Maxwell Mahama, was six years ago, gruesomely lynching by the people of Denkyira Obuasi under circumstances which has since become murky.
Interestingly, the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Upper Denkyira West District, Daniel Appianing, under whose watch the heinous crime occurred, was the first to dispute a robbery claim put on the murder. He has since been sighted by The Herald’s lenses at the Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA) cooling off. He might not testify in the trial.
Daniel Appianing, was immediately shut down by the likes of the Minister for Defence, Dominic Nitiwul, who asked him to keep quiet, if he had nothing important to say about the gruesome murder. He was subsequently interdicted by President Nana Akufo-Addo, following his denial that Major Mahama wasn’t killed because he was an armed robber.
The witness, Kwaning, was answering questions in a cross-examination by Frances Mullen-Ansah, Chief State Attorney.
The prosecution insisted that the person in the video with the red T-shirt and a pair of long shorts was the accused.
When a photo album was handed over to the accused person to identify himself, he could not, indicating that the person in the picture was not him.
The prosecution suggested to the accused person that he was the one in the video, holding a gun, still wearing a red T-shirt and a pair of long shorts but Kwaning denied, saying, “I cannot see the face of the person but in any case, my gun was folded.”
The State pointed to the accused person that he actually took active part in the lynching of the Major, but he denied saying, he was there but he only helped in preventing people from hitting him with cement block.
The prosecution suggested to the accused person that in his statement to the Police in Kasoa, he indicated that he was not at the crime scene but when he got to the Police Headquarters, he stated that he was at the scene, but Kwaning said he told the Police at all times that he was at the scene.
He said it could be that the Police in Kasoa did not capture what he truly said.
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 whiles on duty at Denkyira-Obuasi in the Central Region on May 29, 2017, some residents allegedly mistook him for an armed robber and lynched him, ignoring his persistent plea that he was an officer with 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, Charles Kwaning a.k.a Akwasi Boah, Kwame Tuffour, Joseph Appiah Kubi, Michael Anim and Bismarck Donkor.
The others are John Bosie, Akwasi Baah, Charles Kwaning, Emmanuel Badu, Bismarck Abanga and Kwadwo Anima.
Recently, a report authored by Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, a former Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation and onetime chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) confirmed the allegations that Major Mahama, died while providing security to a galamsey site belonging to C&J Aleska, who are clients of Gabby Asare-Otchere Darko and sometimes goes by the name Heritage Mining.
This is not the first time that doubts have been casted on the story churn out by the Akufo-Addo government, the Ghana Armed Forces and sections of the Ghanaian media that, Major Mahama, who was later given a posthumous promotion to the rank of an Army Captain, was mistaken for an armed robber and killed by the people of Denkyira Obuasi.
Prof. Frimpong-Boateng’s report, titled “Report on The Work of The IMCIM and the Way Forward,” was written and presented to the president in 2021, but leaked to the media. He indicated in his report that Major Mahama was manning a mining site owned by C&J Aleska at Denkyira Obuasi prior to his death.
According to him, Major Mahama, was killed while “providing security for Donald Entsuah and his C&J Aleska.”
In his words, “Many Ghanaians will remember the C&J Aleska, a mining company co-owned by Donald Entsuah and a Canadian National, Simon Ayman that caused a lot of destruction in the town known as Denkyira Oduase, near Diaso.
“During the last NDC regime, several mining companies signed MOUs with the Ghana Army that regulated the supply of security services to the mining companies. At one point, the soldiers at the site of C&J Aleska were under the command of Captain Mahama. This fine army man was killed whilst providing security for Donald Entsuah and his C&J Aleska…,” he added.
The DCE, who was the head of the District Security Council (DISEC) and anti-galamsey fighter, had in May 2017, revealed that, his people were enraged at the soldiers preventing them from their galamsey activities, yet protecting Chinese nationals, who are in the area carrying out the illegal business.
Shortly after his revelation, President Nana Akufo-Addo, interdicted Daniel Appianing and eventually terminated his appointment as DCE, but on the blindside of Ghanaians, the government which was angry at his utterance, sent him to Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA) as its Deputy Director General in-charge of Operations and Technical, where he has been cooling off from the rough and tumble of the Ghanaian politics.
On the website of the GMA, the ex-DCE’s profile was given as “Mr Daniel Appianin is an astute public servant with over fourteen years of experience. He worked in the Ghana Education service, tutoring Economics and Business Management in various senior High schools in the country and rose through the ranks to the position of the Assistant Director 1 in the service.
“He also served as a District Chief Executive in the Upper Denkyira West District Assembly in the Central region before his appointment as a deputy Director-General of the Ghana Maritime Authority.
“Mr Daniel Appianin is an energetic, self-motivated person, with the willingness to learn and take up new challenges. He also has excellent and good interpersonal skills.
“Mr Daniel Appianin hails from Abora, near Dunkwa on-Offin in the Central Region of Ghana.
He was educated at the University of Cape Coast where he obtained a B. Ed degree in Social Sciences (Economics, Management and Education).
Daniel Appianing’s shocking revelation and a near-justification of the gruesome murder, raised doubts about the earlier story that the folks in the town, mistook Captain Mahama, a nephew of ex-President John Mahama, for an armed robber, because he had a pistol on him while jogging at Denkyira Obuasi around 8;30 am, on Monday, 29 May 2017.
