Ghana helicopter crash: President John Mahama promises full investigation
The Z9 helicopter, carrying three crew and five passengers, came down in a dense forest as it was flying from the capital, Accra, to the town of Obuasi for an event to tackle illegal mining. There were no survivors.The bodies of the eight deceased have been recovered from the crash site, and samples have been sent to South Africa for forensic identification and analysis.Ghana's Deputy National Security Coordinator and former Agriculture Minister Alhaji Muniru Mohammed was also among the dead, along with Samuel Sarpong, Vice-Chairman of the governing National Democratic Congress party.A state funeral will be held on 15 August for the victims, AFP reported.
What caused the crash?
Authorities have not confirmed the cause of the crash but Mahama confirmed that the flight data and cockpit voice recorders had been retrieved and that Ghana's armed forces had "initiated a full and transparent investigation".Ghana's meteorological agency had forecast unusually cold weather for August, with recent rains and light showers causing foggy conditions in many forest areas. Local farmers near the crash site reported morning fog as the helicopter flew overhead.One eyewitness told the BBC the helicopter was flying at an "unusually low altitude" and the weather was bad. He said he heard the sound of the helicopter passing by, followed by a "loud sound" and then a "bang". "That's when I realised that the helicopter had exploded. So I hurried to the place to see if I could find survivors," he said. The farmer said when he got to the scene there was "no-one to be rescued".This is the most deadly of three separate emergency incidents involving Ghana Air Force helicopters in recent years.In 2020, a Ghana Air Force Harbin Z-9 helicopter made an emergency landing near Tamale Airport, and last year, another Ghana Air Force helicopter made an emergency landing at Bonsukrom in Ghana's Western Region.
Three days of national mourning
Many Ghanaians are shocked by the news and are still struggling to come to terms with the news. Images purportedly showing the charred remains of the helicopter have been circulating on social media.President Mahama has suspended all his scheduled activities for the rest of the week and declared three days of mourning starting from Thursday.The country's flags are flying at half-mast. The crew members were named as Squadron Leader Peter Bafemi Anala, Flying Officer Manin Twum-Ampadu, and Sergeant Ernest Addo Mensah.
Who was Edward Omane Boamah?
Boamah served under Mahama's previous government as communications minister and before that he was minister of environment. As defence minster he tackled jihadist activity that was brewing in the northern border in Burkina Faso.In 2022, a France-based NGO, Promediation, said its research showed that jihadist groups had recruited between 200 and 300 young Ghanaians.Violence in the area has also been on the rise, with concerns that jihadists may be trying to exploit communal in-fighting between rival communities in northern Ghana. Boamah's book A Peaceful Man In An African Democracy, about former president John Atta Mills, was due to come out later in the year.
Who was Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed?
Muhammed was at the forefront of the battle against illegal gold mining, which has wrecked the environment and contaminated rivers and lakes. Protests against the practice, known locally as Galamsey, peaked during Mahama's run for the presidency last year.
Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Nigeria approves $2.6 billion electricity sector debt refinancing plan
LAGOS, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Nigeria has approved a phased plan to refinance 4 trillion naira ($2.61 billion) in electricity sector debt to help stabilise the nation's ailing power industry and improve supply, its finance minister said. The debt, primarily owed to 27 power generation companies for outstanding invoices between 2015 and 2023, has stifled investment in the industry and exacerbated chronic power outages in Africa's most populous nation. President Bola Tinubu pledged to settle the claims following a recent verification. He approved the plan on Wednesday. Speaking after a cabinet meeting in the capital Abuja, finance minister Olawale Edun said the refinancing would be executed within three to four weeks under the oversight of the debt management office. "It is now fully approved, and we move to implementation," Edun said. The plan will likely involve bond issuances and other instruments to spread out the repayment liability over time. This aligns with broader sector reforms, including a 35% cut in electricity subsidies and tariff hikes for urban consumers, measures expected to save the government around 1.1 trillion naira, or around $718.58 million, annually. ($1 = 1,530.8000 naira)
Reuters
9 hours ago
- Reuters
US moves to revoke visas, impose restrictions over Cuban labor program
WASHINGTON, Aug 13 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday took steps to revoke or restrict visas for some African, Caribbean and Brazilian officials who the U.S. alleges have ties to a Cuban program that sends medical workers oversees. The State Department revoked the visas of Brazilian Ministry of Health official Mozart Julio Tabosa Sales and former Pan American Health Organization official Alberto Kleiman, Rubio said. Rubio did not name other officials who were affected but said they were from Africa, Cuba and Grenada. The Cuban government was not available for immediate comment, but has blasted the Trump administration's efforts to stop the medical missions as a cynical excuse to go after its foreign currency earnings. The Trump administration in February expanded visa restrictions to target officials believed to be tied to the Cuban program, which has sent medics to countries around the world since the Cuban revolution in 1959. The program provides hard cash to the island nation, which is enduring its latest deep economic crisis. In a statement on Wednesday, Rubio described the program as one in which "medical professionals are 'rented' by other countries at high prices and most of the revenue is kept by the Cuban authorities." He said it enriches Cuban officials while depriving Cuban people of essential medical care. The United States "will take action as needed, to bring an end to such forced labor," Rubio said. "We urge governments to pay the doctors directly for their services, not the regime slave masters." In a separate statement announcing restrictions on Brazil and former PAHO officials, Rubio accused the branch of the World Health Organization that covers the Caribbean, Central and South America of acting as an intermediary to implement the program without following Brazilian constitutional requirements, and dodging U.S. sanctions.
Daily Mail
12 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Trump claims Schiff leaked classified information to damage him
Donald Trump ripped into one of his longtime Democratic opponents claiming he leaked classified information to damage him, and he wants the Department of Justice to investigate. 'Just out, irrefutable proof that Adam Shifty Schiff 'approved plan to leak classified information to damage Donald Trump,'' the president wrote on Truth Social Wednesday. He was reacting to reports about a whistleblower alleging that California Sen. Adam Schiff hatched a plan to leak classified intelligence to damage Trump shortly after he first took office in 2017. The whistleblower claims Schiff personally authorized a plan to selectively leak damaging information about Trump to the media during the FBI 's investigation into the president's possible ties to Russia . Later in the day, at an event at the Kennedy Center, the president slammed Schiff again. 'I told him ( Putin ), you know, they got this phony investigation going on. Russia, Russia, Russia. Totally phony, created by Adam Schiff,' the 79-year-old recounted. 'Shifty Schiff and Hillary Clinton and the whole group of them ... made it very dangerous for our country,' the president continued. 'I'm looking at Pam, because I hope something's going to be done about it,' he added. 'Now we've learned all the stuff that's come out over the last two months is incredible, through intelligence. And hopefully something's gonna happen with it.' A spokesperson for Schiff hit back at the allegations in a statement to the Daily Mail. 'Kash Patel's latest smear against Senator Schiff is absolutely and categorically false, and is just the latest in a series of defamatory attacks from the President and his allies meant to distract from their plummeting poll numbers and the Epstein files scandal,' they said. 'These baseless smears are based on allegations that were found to be not reliable, not credible, and unsubstantiated from a disgruntled former staffer who was fired by the House Intelligence Committee for cause in early 2017, including for harassment and potentially compromising activity on official travel for the Committee.' New testimony revealed in FBI documents shows that a career Democrat intelligence official believed Schiff's leaking to the press was 'illegal' and 'treasonous,' according to documents first reported by Just the News . 'When working in this capacity, [redacted staffer's name] was called to an all-staff meeting by SCHIFF,' the FBI report said. 'In this meeting, Schiff stated the group would leak classified information which was derogatory to President of the United States Donald J. Trump. Schiff stated the information would be used to indict President Trump.' The whistleblower gave the testimony at the FBI's St. Louis field office in 2023. However, according to the outlet, the whistleblower had told FBI officials in Washington as early as 2017 about Schiff's plot. The whistleblower reportedly said during the meeting, 'this would be illegal and, upon hearing his concerns, unnamed members of the meeting reassured that they would not be caught leaking classified information,' the report states. According to the testimony, Schiff believed he would be saved from prosecution due to the Constitution's speech and debate clause. The statute protects members of Congress from legal action for actions taken during their legislative work. It is unclear whether Attorney General Pam Bondi is working on charges related to Schiff's plan to leak classified material.
