Ghana’s defence, environment ministers killed in helicopter crash

(Web Desk): Ghana’s Ministers of Defence and Environment were killed in a helicopter crash on Wednesday, the presidential office has confirmed. The announcement came after the country’s armed forces reported that a helicopter carrying three crew members and five passengers had gone off the radar.

According to a report by AFP, local TV channel Joy News aired mobile footage from the crash site, showing smoke rising from the wreckage in a dense forest area.

It was later confirmed that the deceased included Defence Minister Edward Oman Boamah and Minister of Environment, Science, and Technology Ibrahim Murtaza Mohammed.

Edward Boamah had been appointed Defence Minister earlier this year after President John Mahama assumed office, while Ibrahim Murtaza Mohammed held the Environment, Science, and Technology portfolio.

Officials confirmed that all individuals aboard the helicopter were killed. Ghanaian media reported that the helicopter was en route to an event related to illegal mining — a serious environmental issue facing the West African nation.

President Mahama’s Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah, said in a statement: “The President and the government express their heartfelt condolences and sympathy to the families of their colleagues and the servicemen who lost their lives in the line of duty.”

Edward Boamah was leading Ghana’s Ministry of Defence at a time when militant activities were increasing in the northern neighboring country of Burkina Faso.

Although Ghana has so far remained safe from the spread of militancy from the Sahel region — unlike its neighboring countries Togo and Benin — observers have warned of rising threats from arms smuggling and militant movement across the border from Burkina Faso, which could see Ghana being used as a safe haven.