The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has paid glowing tribute to 8 persons who were killed in the tragic military helicopter crash at Sikaman in the Adansi Akrofuom area in the Ashanti Region on Wednesday, August 6, 2025.

Speaking to the media at the ongoing solemn flower-laying and candle-lighting ceremony held in honor of the departed in the helicopter crash on Friday, August 8, 2025, he said, “Nobody, no human being, deserves what they have gone through.”

Okudzeto Ablakwa also recounted his final moments with the late Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, Dr Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed.

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“Only last week, exactly a week to the day, we were with him. We had a Ministry Advisory Board meeting, and we had a very good meeting,” Ablakwa recalled.

He noted that after the meeting, Dr Murtala Mohammed informed them he was heading to Bawku to address pressing national issues.

“He said it was going to be a very, very busy weekend for him. We wished him well. We exchanged pleasantries. We could never have imagined that would be the last time we’d see him in person,” Ablakwa recounted.

He described Dr Murtala as a brilliant and dedicated public servant, stressing that none of the eight persons onboard the ill-fated military aircraft deserved such a tragic end.

“All eight of our gallant compatriots, did not deserve this", he added.

Okudzeto Ablakwa called for deep introspection and stronger safeguards to prevent similar tragedies in the future, though he refrained from apportioning blame.

The tragic incident occurred on Tuesday, August 6, 2025, when a Ghana Armed Forces Z-9 military helicopter crashed near Sikaman, a community in the Adansi Akrofuom District of the Ashanti Region.

All eight passengers on board perished in the crash. Among them were the Minister of Defence, Dr Edward Omane Boamah, Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed and six others.

Government has since declared a period of national mourning, while investigations into the cause of the crash are ongoing.

Watch the video below:

After laying his wreath at Jubilee House, Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa says the 8 gallant men lost in the helicopter crash ‘didn’t deserve such a fate#JoyDigital || #GhanaMourns #JoyNewsFocus pic.twitter.com/PzOflQH1Jc

— JoyNews (@JoyNewsOnTV) August 8, 2025