ACCRA — Ghana was plunged into mourning on Wednesday following the deaths of two senior cabinet ministers — Defence Minister Edward Omane Boamah and Environment Minister Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed — in a fatal military helicopter crash that claimed all eight lives onboard.
The chopper, which departed the capital Accra just after 9:00 a.m., disappeared from radar en route to the gold mining town of Obuasi in the Ashanti Region. The Ghana Armed Forces had earlier confirmed that five passengers and three crew members were aboard the aircraft before it crashed.
In a statement from the presidency, Chief of Staff Julius Debrah said, “The president and government extend our condolences and sympathies to the families of our comrades and the servicemen who died in service to the country.”
Among the dead were Alhaji Muniru Mohammed, Ghana’s deputy national security coordinator and a former agriculture minister, and Samuel Sarpong, vice chairman of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC). The crash marks one of the deadliest incidents involving high-ranking government officials in Ghana’s recent history.
Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, a medical doctor and former communications minister, was appointed defence minister earlier this year by President John Mahama. He was leading the defence ministry at a critical time when Ghana faced increasing security concerns along its northern border with jihadist-plagued Burkina Faso.
Environment Minister Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed was overseeing efforts in science and technology and had been a vocal advocate for climate action and environmental reform.
Boamah, who had also served as deputy environment minister, had recently led a Ghanaian delegation to Burkina Faso as part of regional peace and security talks with the country’s military junta. He was also on the verge of releasing a book titled “A Peaceful Man in an African Democracy”, a tribute to late President John Atta Mills.
The presidency announced that all flags would be flown at half-staff nationwide, while President Mahama has suspended all official engagements for the day in honour of the deceased.
The tragic loss has shocked the nation and cast a shadow over Ghana’s ongoing efforts to maintain regional stability and internal security amid rising cross-border threats in West Africa.
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