Late Major Maxwell Adam Mahama was from a family of servicemen. His uncle, Fred McBagonluri, was the great grandson of H. W.M Bamford, who served as the Inspector General of Police (IGP) (1924-1938), for 14 years during the British colonial rule in Gold Coast.
Until he met his untimely death on May 29, 2017, Maxwell Adam Mahama was a Captain of the 5thh Infantry Battalion of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF).
However, following his gruesome murder, President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who is the Commander of the Ghana Armed Forces, posthumously promoted him to the rank of a Major.
His great grandfather, Lt. Colonel H. W.M. Bamford MBE/CBE, served the British Colonial Army and was first IGP of Ghana. Adam was born to serve. He came from a long line of warriors. HMW fought in Natal South Africa 1896. Commanded a battalion in WW I in France and was one of three survivors of a German chemical attack. Fought in WW II.
His father also served in the Ghana Armed Forces.
Coming from a family of servicemen, he entered into the army at a very early age, rising rapidly to the rank of captain. McBagonluri said Adam was in his early thirties, proof of his gallantry in the army.
Adam was also considering a life in public service to Ghana. In an interview with a cross-section of journalists in Accra shortly after the death of Major Mahama, Dr McBagonluri disclosed that his nephew had consulted him recently about gaining a second master’s degree in either Law or Public Policy.
But McBagonluri, who helped establish the Faculty of Engineering and serves as the Dean of the faculty at Ashesi University, advised Adam Mahama to pursue public policy first.
According to his Facebook profile, he studied abroad at the University of Leicester where he gained a Master’s degree in Security and Risk Management. He also attended the University of Ghana, Legon, where he gained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and History. Before that he had attended the St John’s School in Sekondi-Takoradi in the Western Region for his secondary education. He also attended Akosombo International School.
He was the only son of his parents and left behind a mother, father, Barbara, his wife, and two young child children. Maxwell and Barbara got married in August 2012.
He was also a lover of the game of tennis. In January 2017, when Roger Federer won the Australian Open he posted this on Facebook. “Lessons to learn from both Rafa and Roger. I think they both represent a strong character. Their resilience is just amazing.
Witnessing him win a grand slam at age 35, Roger is a good motivation for the start of the year. He says ‘tennis is a tough game, there are no draws,’ you win or you lose. What a great championship match.”
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