The immediate past District Chief Executive (DCE) for Upper Denkyira West, Ambrose Amoah Eshia, has accused his successor of dereliction of duty which he said may have led to the lynching of Captain Maxwell Adam Mahama.
According to Amoah Eshia, the new DCE, Daniel Apiannin, ought to have known about the presence of military personnel in his jurisdiction and taken steps to protect them.
Speaking to Citi News, Mr. Amoah Eshia said his successor acted unprofessionally.
Captain Maxwell Adam Mahama of the 5th Infantry Battalion was lynched and burnt at Denkyera-Obuasi on Monday after he was mistaken for an armed robber.
The late military officer was among others deployed to combat illegal mining activities ongoing at Denkyira-Obuasi in the Central Region.
The former DCE explained that in practice, anytime the soldiers were in town, they usually introduced themselves to the political head [DCE] of the area.
“On the other hand, if for any reason they are unable to do that, the DCE as the political head must look for them in order that they can have a good working relationship. And so in this case, if they did not introduce themselves to the DCE and the DCE did not also look for them, then I will put the blame at the doorstep of the DCE,” he stated.
Mr. Amoah Eshia further accused his successor saying, “I think that there was a certain amount of dereliction of duty on the part of the DCE.”
“It means that he failed woefully to have checked on the soldiers and check on their schedule in order to acquaint and familiarize himself with them,” the former DCE said, adding that Capt. Mahama’s death could have been prevented should his successor had done the needful.
“This death of the late captain was unnecessary and unwarranted. Assuming that he had an indigene accompanying him on his way throughout the jogging, that indigene would have held brief for him when people suspected that he was an armed robber.”
The current DCE, Daniel Apiannin, while speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Tuesday, complained that Capt. Mahama and his team were in the town to protect illegal miners instead of fighting them.
But the former DCE said that claim is absolutely false.
“Companies and other entities that are for government and others that are not for government undertaking activities in the district have been known to solicit support of state security agencies. I am not talking about illegal mining; I am talking about legal mining. That has been the practice; I know that the Ghana Armed Forces are known to have safeguarded the interest of these companies. There’s nothing untoward with this arrangement.”
“Captain Adam Mahama was not protecting illegal miners in the Upper Denkyira West district, as far as I know. It is not true that the army sent men there to protect small scale miners. For the records, in Denkyira-Obuasi where the incident took place, there is no small scale mining around. Small scale mining in Upper Denkyira takes place in other areas but not Denkyira-Obuasi,” he stressed.
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(Via: CitiFM Online Ghana)
