WILLIAM BAAH@ MISTY & 13 ORS v. THE REPUBLIC

This is an appeal from the verdict of the Jury of the High Court, Criminal Division 3, Accra, dated 29th January 2024.

The Appellant, William Baah, was on 15th December 2017 charged with one count. It reads as follows:

STATEMENT OF OFFENCE

ABETMENT OF CRIME, NAMELY, MURDER, contrary to Section 20 (1) and 46 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29).

PARTICULARS OF OFFENCE

WILLIAM BAAH @MISTY on or about 29th May 2017, at Denkyira Obuasi in the Central Region and within the jurisdiction of this Court, abetted Bernard Asamoah@ Daddy, Kofi Nyame@ Abortion, Akwasi Baah, Kwame Tuffour @ Asowonan, Joseph Appiah Kubi@ Kumdede, Michael Anin @Nana Anim, Akwasi Asante, Charles Quaining@Akwasi Boah, and others at large to intentionally cause the death of Captain Maxwell Adom Mahama by unlawful harm.

The facts of the case as presented by the prosecution were as follows:

“ Captain Maxwell Adom Mahama, now deceased, was the commander of a military detachment stationed at Diaso in the Upper Denkyira District of the Central region. On 29 th May 2017, the deceased embarked on a 20km walk along the main Denkyira Obuase road. Whilst on the road, the deceased interacted briefly with some women who were selling foodstuffs and snails along the road. The women who had spotted a side pistol tucked in the deceased’s waist, suddenly became suspicious of him as a result of which one of them, Esther Tawiah @ Maame Bono immediately called the Assembly man of Denkyira Obuase, William Baah @Misty, the 1 st accused to inform him that they had spotted a young man with a weapon along the road. Immediately, after receiving the information, the 1 st Accused mobilised a number of young men from Denkyira Obuase to confront the said suspicious person. A number of young men from the town mounted motor bikes, armed themselves with locally manufactured guns and moved towards the main road in search of the person. When the young men found the deceased, they got down from the motorbikes, and some of them started walking towards him. One Yaw Amankwa, who was said to be armed with a locally manufactured gun, began to shoot from a distance in the direction of the deceased.

**The deceased tried to explain to the men that he was a soldier and not an “armed robber”, but the young men did not pay attention to what he said and continued to approach with a view to attacking him. By this time, a lot more people had gathered and the decease