Residents at Denkyira Obuasi express fear over Major Mahama’s statue

Residents of Denkyira Obuasi, now New Obuasi in the Central Region, have confessed their fear of the erection of a statue in memory of the late Captain Maxwell Mahama who was murdered exactly a year ago will remind them of the unpleasant circumstance.
They say they cannot stand the site of a statue of the fallen soldier.
“Please leave us alone, we are afraid, our children will even run when they see it”, Auntie Afiba, a resident pleads, referring to a statue of the late Captain Mahama.
Major Mahama, who was an officer with the 5th Infantry Battalion, was lynched and his body partly burnt by some youth of the then Denkyira-Obuasi on Monday, May 29, 2017 on suspicion that he was an armed robber. Fourteen suspects are currently standing trial for various offences, including murder. But family of the deceased believes the suspects could be more, and is thus demanding justice.
As part of activities marking the first anniversary of the fallen soldier, the state will on Tuesday, May 29, organise a sod cutting ceremony for the construction of a monument at Airport Hills Roundabout in Accra.
There are also calls from some quarters of the military, who will not go on record demanding the erection of a statue at Denkyira Obuasi, in the memory of the slain soldier.
An interaction with some of the residents of the town a year on however reveals that some residents are not particularly enthused with such calls.
Angelina Brago-Anim, another resident, expressed some dissent, stating that there is already fear among the people and the erection of a statue in the town will only compound their woes.
“Fear has gripped us and the events linger on. Erecting a statue? That is pressure on us”, she stated.
Chief Linguist, Okyeame Kwabena Asare, also shares the same sentiments that a statue of the slain soldier will terrify the people of the town.
“With the statue, we will recall the body, when we see his body, fear will grip us”, he observed.
However, a retired soldier, Issaka Suleymana, also a resident thinks otherwise. For him erecting a statue will serve a historical purpose. He insisted the statue be erected so that anytime their grandchildren came to the village, they would bear witness to what their old men did.
Father of the late soldier, Retired Captain Denis Mahama, announced on, May 28, that there would also be a church service and wreath laying at the Osu Military Cemetery.