THE MAJOR MAHAMA LYNCHING, NOT A DENKYIRA-OBUASI THING BUT A GHANAIAN THING

It is sad to hear that Captain Maxwell Adam Mahama was mistaken for a thief and brutally lynched on May 29, 2017. But I am amazed at the fact that this is just getting the attention of the Ghanaian populace now. I will not say it is a Denkyira-Obuasi (Central Region) thing but it is a Ghanaian thing. I have not lived that long on earth but have witnessed more than four of these crucial murders and heard more than a dozen happen in Ghana. The question is, did it have to happen to someone well placed in society to gain the attention it deserved?

In 2009, while returning from school, I was horrified to see the burning frame of a human being at the Ayigbe Junction, Israel, in Accra. The taxi driver taking me to my destination then, seeing how shaken I was laughed and said:

“Ei! Small madam! This is normal! Any robber who gets you first will kill you so get over this. It is normal! Maybe you have not had your things stolen before or do not know how painful it is to lose someone to robbery.”

There was nothing I could say. When I reached home my mother briefed me, that he was a man of about twenty six and was spotted stealing from a wayside kiosk. As to what he stole, no one could tell, except the owner said he took a chair and left it, picked some of the things she was selling, put them down and continued picking and dumping until she blew the “ewi” alarm.

The next day, his parents came to the spot, obviously after the police had come for his burnt remains, and poured libation amidst curses. They explained that the said man, was on the autism spectrum and had lost his way. Those who witnessed the lynching then claimed he was shouting

“Mama, it is hurting me! Stop it! it is not good to hit people!”

All the time they were beating him. My question then was, couldn’t those brutal murderers know there was something amiss when the said thief was saying all those things? Although I did not witness the beating and eventual killing, eye witness accounts replayed in my mind up till date.

Mob justice has never been fair. It is shocking that we had to travel into 2017 and see the murder of Captain Mahama in order to be serious about it. I believe the Denkyira-Obuasi group are just serving as scapegoats. In a way, it seems to be unfair. What about all those who have murdered innocent souls in the past and gone scot free? Who gets justice for those who have lost their loved ones unfairly? I believe even some of those speaking loudest against it, may have history of mob killing.

No amount of money, no greater crowd of mourners, no words of sympathy, no state burial can fill the void left when innocent souls are squashed between horrid societal flaws and the quest for peace which the security agencies fail to give. The law enforcement agencies should also “up their game” so to speak, because no matter how brutal instant justice is, it is a symptom of loss of trust in the security agencies. Let the rumoured corruption be squashed

I pray that the politicisation of mob justice be quenched so it can be fought with conscience because many things can go wrong when a crime takes place. And a human being is not a toy to be broken and fixed. Amoafowaa writes this poem in honour of the fallen soldier.

BRUTES IN BEINGS

Many things walk the land like beings

Things with no souls on soles

Acting like they deserve what moves

Pretending to think in growth

But May on its 29th leg on 2017 stand has set their stage

II

A handsome father has been plucked

Plucked from the tree of life

One who promised on his honour

To protect his land even with his life

Many speak in opposites even with their sympathies

III

From slaps to slab hitting

Sticks to stone biting

Block breaking to naked strikking

Dragged in bragging like a dead goat

Killed in shaming 

With one in a womb lighting a match

On one like a king on his own soil

On an unfamiliar ground

IV

Hypocrites cry foul

Pretending to care

When all they want is their political share

It did take a gentle soul to knock the pity

How many lives have seen such fate?

Instant justice? I say a brutal pain!

V

Who will warm the bed of his half?

Who will cradle his sons to sleep?

Who will guide his little ones into growth?

Who can quench the pain of his loss?

I hope the noise will create a choice

A choice which will parade conscience in a proper palanquin

And stop the spectacle

Which publicises blackness in demonism

In spells irreversible after activation

Amoafowaa Sefa Cecilia (c) May 29, 2017

Photo Credit: Google pics