Ghana defence, environment ministers, other top govt functionaries die in helicopter crash

• The presidency in the West African country confirmed the incident, saying that everyone on board was killed in the accident

In Ghana, at least four high-ranking members of President John Mahama’s cabinet have lost their lives in a helicopter crash on Wednesday.

The victims, including the defence and environment ministers, died in the mishap which happened after the chopper carrying three crew and three other passengers disappeared from the radar

President John Mahama appointed Edward Omane Boamah as defence minister earlier this year shortly after Mahama’s swearing-in in January.

Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed was serving as the Minister of Environment, Science and Technology.

The presidency in the West African country confirmed the incident, saying that everyone on board was killed in the accident.

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

Boamah was heading Ghana’s defence ministry at a time when there was a resurgence in jihadist activity across its northern border in Burkina Faso.

While Ghana has so far largely been unaffected by a jihadist spillover from the Sahel — unlike neighbours Togo and Benin — observers have warned of increased arms trafficking and of militants from Burkina Faso crossing the porous border to use Ghana as a rear base.

A medical doctor by training, Boamah’s career in government included stints as communications minister during Mahama’s previous 2012-2017 tenure. Before that, he was the deputy minister for the environment.

The Ghanaian Armed Forces had reported earlier Wednesday that an air force helicopter had fallen off radar after taking off from Accra just after 9:00 am. It had been headed towards the town of Obuasi, northwest of the capital.

The statement had said that three crew and five passengers were aboard, without specifying at the time that the ministers were among them.

Alhaji Muniru Mohammed, Ghana’s deputy national security coordinator and former agriculture minister, was among the dead, along with Samuel Sarpong, vice chairman of Mahama’s National Democratic Congress party.