Media Relations Officer at the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, Paa Kwesi Schandorf, has claimed that a man he described as appearing drunk or mentally unstable predicted that people would die just hours before an event connected to the August 6 helicopter tragedy.

In an interview on Joy Prime on August 6, 2026, and monitored by GhanaWeb, Schandorf recalled saying that the incident happened about two to three hours before the programme was scheduled to begin.

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Narrating the incident, Schandorf said the man approached him at the venue where he was serving as the master of ceremonies (MC) and claimed the event would not be successful because people would die before it began. He added that he ignored the warning because of the man's appearance and behaviour.

"So, I got to the venue very early. Of course, as an MC, I needed to familiarise myself with the atmosphere and then do a couple of things. Now, when we got there, there was this guy who appeared like a junkie.

"I should put it that way, he appeared like a junkie or somebody who was heavily drunk. This was about two hours before the programme even started, and interestingly, he walked up to me and told me that the programme that I'm coming to MC would not be successful because he has seen that people would die before the event will start,” he revealed.

According to him, it is the first time he has publicly spoken about the encounter, a year after the helicopter crash that claimed eight lives. He said the incident has remained with him because of the tragic events that followed.

Describing the man, Schandorf said he was dressed in white, looked untidy and appeared heavily intoxicated, making it easy for anyone to dismiss what he was saying.

"Now, it's a story I've not told. I've not said it anywhere, but this is the first time I'm saying it. I can still picture him. He was wearing white, very tipsy, very dirty. I mean, he was looking tattered and extremely disorganised.

"He walked up, and he spoke Twi saying the event will not happen, and this was just like three hours before the programme, and he said, people are going to die, and the whole country is going to mourn and everything,” he added.

Schandorf said neither he nor the programme coordinator paid attention to the man's comments because they were focused on preparations for the event and the expected arrival of invited dignitaries, including senior government officials who later died in the helicopter crash.

"Of course, naturally, looking at his disposition, the way he was dressed and everything, I simply ignored him. In fact, I didn't engage him at all. The coordinator of the programme was standing close by so we just watched him and then we ignored him.

"Nobody, you know, minded him because we had word that Dr Edward Omane Boamah was on his way, I mean, we knew the dignitaries who were coming,” he said.

He added that about an hour later, the man returned and asked whether he had realised that what he had earlier predicted had happened.

"After he said that, I think about an hour later, he came back to tell me that what he came to tell me earlier that I had ignored, do I know that it has happened?" he concluded.

Schandorf’s comments come a year after the tragic August 6, 2025, helicopter crash, which claimed the lives of all eight people on board.

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The victims included Defence Minister Dr Edward Omane Boamah, Minister of Environment, Science and Technology Dr Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, Acting Deputy National Security Coordinator Alhaji Muniru Limuna, three military pilots, and two other government officials.

The delegation was travelling to an official government event on the mining sector when the helicopter crashed in the Adansi forest area of the Ashanti Region.

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August 6 Helicopter Tragedy: Two to three hours before the program started, a man who appeared to me to be drunk told me the program would not be successful because he had seen that people would die before the event began — Paa Kwesi Schandorf, Media Relations Officer, Lands Ministry #PrimeMorning

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