The Commander-In-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces Nana Akufo-Addo has posthumously promoted the late Captain Maxwell Mahama to the rank of a major.
The promotion was based on recommendation of the Chief of Defence Staff, Lt. Gen. O.B Akwa.
Major Mahama was lynched by residents of Denkyira-Obuasi in the Central region on Monday May 29, 2017 having been mistaken as an armed robber.
Commiserating with the family of the late soldier at Burma Camp Monday, President Akufo-Addo also announced a Memorial Fund with a seed money of Gh¢500,000. He promised to make a personal donation of Gh¢50,000 to the Fund, which will be managed by former and present public officials to support the widow and the two children.
The president also disclosed a national monument will be erected in honour of the 32-year-old commander who died in the line of duty as he was stationed at Denkyira-Oboase to put a stop to illegal mining.
President Akufo-Addo stated a State Burial will be held for the fallen soldier on Friday, June 9, 2017.
He promised the family everything will be done to bring the perpetrators to book. “That is the least I can do,” the president opined.
Nana Akufo-Addo’s high powered government delegation to the residence of the late soldier included senior minister Yaw Osafo Maafo, Trade Minister Alan Kyeremanten, Defence Minister Dominic Nitiwul, National Security Minister Kan Dapaah, and Women and Children’s Affairs Minister Otiko Afisa Djaba.
The police have since arrested 42 suspects in connection with the lynching. Thirty-two of them have been remanded and the case will be recalled on June 21, 2017.