President John Dramani Mahama celebrated the wives of the eight (8) victims of the Wednesday, August 6, 2025, horrific helicopter crash on Valentine’s Day, Saturday, February 14, 2026.

The president, in a post shared on Facebook on Saturday, conveyed a Valentine’s Day greeting to the eight widows.

The post, which was captioned “From All Ghanaians,” had an artwork of love emojis and a photo grid of the eight women with the caption “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

The widows include Rita Omane Boamah, widow of the late former Minister of Defence, Dr Edward Omane Boamah; Mercy Amoah, wife of the late Sergeant Ernest Addo Mensah; Abigail Aboagye, widow of Samuel Aboagye, a former NADMO official; and Hajia Hadiatu Murtala Muhammed, the widow of the late former Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed.

Black Wednesday: How Z-9 helicopter crashed - Investigative team details

About the Crash

The tragic incident occurred on Wednesday, August 6, 2025, involving a Ghana Air Force Z-9 helicopter en route from Accra to Obuasi. The aircraft reportedly went down in the Dampa Range Forest Reserve, near Sikaman in the Adansi Akrofuom District of the Ashanti Region.

Onboard were five officials and three crew members attending the launch of the Responsible Cooperative Mining and Skills Development Programme (rCOMSDEP).

The five officials were:

Dr Edward Omane Boamah, Minister of Defence

Dr Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed, Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation

Dr Samuel Sarpong, Vice-Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC)

Samuel Aboagye, former NDC parliamentary candidate for Obuasi East and NADMO Deputy Director-General

Alhaji Muniru Limuna Mohammed, Acting Deputy National Security Coordinator

The three Ghana Air Force crew members were:

Squadron Leader Peter Bafemi Anala

Flying Officer Malin Twum-Ampadu

Sergeant Ernest Addo Mensah

BAI

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