At a State funeral for the eight victims held at the Blackstar Square in Accra, the Vice President said, Ghanaians should not be listening to her tribute at this time, but “We should all have been at our usual activities, throwing up ideas in the interest of contributing to the national agenda.”
The Vice President said all the eight heroes had high determinations to succeed, their focus unwavering and their resolve was unambiguous.
She urged the need for people to make firm decisions to cease the opportunities given them for the intended purposes of serving their country.
Vice President Opoku-Agyemang said had an outstanding meeting with the late Dr Edward Kofi Omane Boamah, the Minister of Defence, before his travel on that fateful day.
“And Omane, you know that you and I have an outstanding meeting of the Ghana Armed Forces Council. You and I pledged to take our assignments very, very seriously. We agreed, among other things, to avoid tall and cluttered agenda by clearing items expeditiously.
“You had a positive reaction to the prospect of working more closely with me. I was even more excited by the prospect of learning from you. Yes, this is one more time to remind ourselves that man proposes, but God disposes,” she said.
Vice President Opoku-Agyemang wished her departed colleagues a peaceful rest and thanked each one of the departed for their examples of selflessness, commitment to duty, and their belief in the ability of their country to be better for all of them.
“I pray that we can all gather the strength to say and believe with the hymnist, that through the love of God our Savior, all is well,” she said.
The Vice President sharing a few lines from one of her favorite poets, the Ivorian Bernard Dédier quotes: “The dead are not gone forever. They are in the flowing water, in the still water, in the lonely place, in the crowd. The dead are not dead. The dead are not beneath the earth. They are in the fire, in the weeping plant, in the wounded place, in the home, everywhere.”
Vice President Opoku-Agyemang said their departed comrades were always with them in the business of resetting their country and of guiding ourselves through the legacies of humanness, loyalty, justice, dedication, determination, trust, and sheer hard work.
“Thanks for leaving these gifts with us and more of them forever. Rest in peace,” she said.
The eight distinguished Ghanaians who lost their lives while on an official duty in the August 6, 2025, military helicopter crash at Adansi Akrofuom in the Ashanti Region, include Dr Edward Kofi Omane Boamah, Minister for Defence; and Alhaji Dr Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, Member of Parliament for Tamale Central and Minister for Environment, Science, and Technology.
Others are Alhaji Muniru Mohammed Limuna, the Acting Deputy National Security Coordinator; Mr Samuel Sarpong, the Vice Chairman of the National Democratic Congress; and Mr Samuel Aboagye, Deputy Director-General of National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO).
The rest are Squadron Leader Peter Anala, Flying Officer Twum Ampadu and Sergeant Ernest Addo Mensah, all of the Ghana Air Force.
Alhaji Dr Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed and Alhaji Muniru Mohammed Limuna were laid to rest on Sunday, 10th August 2025, at the new military cemetery at Tse Addo in Accra.
The rest of six, after the State funeral, were laid to rest at the same cemetery.
GNA
