Africa

BREAKING: Ghana Defence, Environment Ministers Die In Helicopter Crash

Ghana authority confirmed that everyone onboard was killed in the accident.

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Accra, Ghana – Ghana has been thrown into mourning following the deaths of Defence Minister Edward Omane Boamah and Environment Minister Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed in a tragic helicopter crash on Wednesday.

The presidency confirmed their deaths late Wednesday, just hours after the Ghana Armed Forces reported that a military helicopter carrying eight people — three crew members and five passengers — had gone missing from radar during a flight.

Boamah, who was appointed defence minister earlier this year following President John Mahama’s swearing-in in January, and Muhammed, a key figure in environmental and scientific policy, were both traveling on official duties when the crash occurred.

Ghana authority confirmed that everyone onboard was killed in the accident.

According to Mahama’s chief of staff Julius Debrah, “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.”

At the time of his death, Edward Omane Boamah was serving as Ghana’s Minister of Defence, overseeing national security amid growing instability just across the northern border in Burkina Faso, where jihadist violence has been escalating.

Although Ghana has largely been spared from the jihadist spillover affecting neighbouring countries like Togo and Benin, security analysts have raised concerns about the rise in arms trafficking and reports of militants from Burkina Faso using Ghana’s northern territory as a logistical base due to its porous borders.

Boamah, a trained medical doctor, previously served in multiple government roles, including as Minister of Communications during President John Mahama’s 2012–2017 administration. Prior to that, he held the position of Deputy Minister for Environment.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Ghana Armed Forces reported that an air force helicopter had disappeared from radar shortly after departing from Accra around 9:00 a.m. en route to the town of Obuasi, northwest of the capital. The military confirmed the aircraft was carrying three crew members and five passengers but did not initially disclose that ministers were on board.

Among those confirmed dead were Alhaji Muniru Mohammed, Ghana’s Deputy National Security Coordinator and former Minister of Agriculture, and Samuel Sarpong, Vice Chairman of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), the party led by former President Mahama.

Boamah had recently led a Ghanaian delegation to Ouagadougou in May, as part of the country’s ongoing diplomatic engagements with Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger — all three now ruled by military juntas that have distanced themselves from the West African regional bloc ECOWAS.

He had been preparing to publish a book titled “A Peaceful Man in an African Democracy,” a tribute to former President John Atta Mills, who passed away in 2012.

In response to the tragedy, presidential spokesperson Debrah announced that all national flags would be flown at half-mast, and President Mahama cancelled his official engagements for the day.

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