The Presidency on Thursday, August 7, 2025, held a solemn wreath-laying ceremony at the Ceremonial Gardens of Jubilee House in honour of the eight individuals who lost their lives in Wednesday’s tragic military helicopter crash in the Adansi Akrofuom District of the Ashanti Region.
The ceremony formed part of a three-day national mourning period declared by the government to honour the memory of the deceased, which includes two senior government officials—Defence Minister Dr. Edward Omane Boamah and Environment Minister Dr. Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed—as well as senior military personnel and party officials.
The symbolic event drew President John Dramani Mahama, Vice President Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyeman, Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah, the National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, Members of the Council of State, family members, friends, government officials, members of the security services, and the general public, all of whom laid wreaths to pay their respects to the fallen.
The national mourning will continue until Saturday, August 9, and will culminate in an “Evening of Reflections and Memorials” at the Forecourt of the State House.
The state funeral and burial arrangements are expected to be announced in the coming days.
Dr. Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed died alongside Defence Minister Dr. Edward Omane Boamah and six others when a Ghana Armed Forces aircraft crashed in the Ashanti Region.
The President in black laying the wreath
The incident has triggered a series of national mourning gestures, honouring the memory of the eight individuals who perished in what is being described as one of the darkest moments in Ghana’s recent history.
Among the victims were two senior government officials—Dr. Omane Boamah, Minister for Defence, and Dr. Murtala Muhammed, Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, who also served as the Member of Parliament for Tamale Central
Others who lost their lives include Acting Deputy National Security Coordinator Alhaji Limuna Muniru Mohammed, former parliamentary candidate Samuel Aboagye, and National Democratic Congress (NDC) National Vice Chairman Dr. Samuel Sarpong.
The crash also claimed the lives of three Ghana Air Force crew members: Squadron Leader Peter Bafemi Anala, Flying Officer Manin Twum-Ampadu, and Sergeant Ernest Addo Mensah.
