Are Some Sakawa Shenanigans Going on Here?

You would have thought that the autopsy report on the mortal remains of Major Maxwell Adam Mahama, more than five months after his widely publicized murder by a lynch mob at Denkyira-Obuasi, in the Central Region, would have been ready by now, in order to facilitate the timely prosecution of the alleged criminal suspects in such heinous and dastardly act. But, strangely, the pathologist who conducted the autopsy on the remains of the slain nephew of former President John Dramani Mahama, reportedly, told Mr. Ebenezer Kwaku Ansah, the magistrate presiding over the trial of the criminal suspects in the case, that police investigators have yet to make themselves available to enable him to put his final report together (See “Major Mahama Autopsy: Police Not Cooperating – Pathologist” Citifmonline.com / Ghanaweb.com 10/26/17).

As if the preceding is not disturbing enough, now, we are also told that some parts of the remains of the deceased cannot be traced. We are not told which parts of the body are missing, but it is safe to surmise that this may not be the work of the assailants of the victim, for we were never told that the corpse of the dead man had been tampered with, other than what we know via media accounts that it may partially have been mutilated as a result of the brutal manner in which he was executed, by a savage combination of a barrage of gunshots and stoning. And so the question of how Major Mahama’s corpse came to be missing some parts must be expected to be answered, once police investigators, led by Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Mr. George Amega, have reconciled their findings with that of Dr. Adusei, the coroner, and ready themselves for the next trial date on November 23.

In the era of Sakawa, the rampant slaying of humans and the widely alleged removal of their body parts for rituals aimed at enriching the perpetrators and/or their assigns, it would not come as a surprise if it should happen that the allegedly missing parts of the deceased may very well have been invested in the grisly business of Sakawa. This is not altogether flabbergasting, in view of the high-profile background of the deceased. The relevant question here, though, is whether police investigators would actually want to be drawn into such a highly sensational and sensitive case. In all likelihood, elements outside the professional purview of the Ghana Police Service (GPS) may very well be involved. But in what manner?

The discovery of the fact of the missing parts of Major Mahama’s remains may very well explain the reason for the alleged non-cooperation of police investigators. If the allegation by the pathologist holds, this aspect of the case may well spin out a criminal trial of its own in the near future. This would not be the first of cases involving the apparently reckless handling of evidence in a criminal trial. In the past, whole shiploads of narcotic contrabands had been reported to have gone missing in the custody of personnel of the GPS; and in a couple of instances, powdered cocaine had been reported to have been exchanged for dried-cassava powder. Whatever the ultimate outcome of this aspect of the case may be, the confidence and integrity of the GPS clearly appears to have taken another significant hit. There doesn’t seem to be the possibility of any remarkable recovery anytime soon.

*Visit my blog at: kwameokoampaahoofe.wordpress.com Ghanaffairs

By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.
English Department, SUNY-Nassau
Garden City, New York
October 29, 2017
E-mail: [email protected]