Deputy Chief of Staff, Stanislav Xoese Dogbe, has advised journalists and other accredited media men to be of good conduct during the state funeral for the remaining six victims of the August 6 helicopter crash.
Addressing the press on Thursday, August 14, Mr. Dogbe emphasised the need for an organised atmosphere and respect for the solemn ceremony on Friday, August 15.
He particularly appealed to media practitioners and persons who have been granted access to the inner perimeter to avoid the practice of pursuing mourners and dignitaries arriving at the event with phones, monopods, or other recording devices.
“We do not want to see tomorrow [Friday] anybody holding a phone or a monopod and struggling to chase people, chase mourners as they are coming in sit down. We expect a very high level of decorum and solemnity,” Mr. Dogbe warned.
Stanislav Dogbe also outlined the arrangements and details for the state funeral of the remaining six victims of the August 6 helicopter crash in Adansi Akrofuom.
He said the burial ceremony will be conducted with full respect and adherence to protocols. He also assured that there would be heavy security deployment to ensure law and order.
The funeral will be held in three parts — beginning with Bible and Qur’an recitals, followed by the main service, and ending with the burial.
The pre-burial programme will start at 7:30 a.m. and end at 9:00 a.m. All tributes from the various institutions the departed patriots worked with will be read during the pre-burial period before 9:00 a.m.
After the service, the bodies of the six men who are yet to be buried will be conveyed to the military cemetery at Tse Addo for burial. The Ghana Armed Forces, together with the various churches of the deceased, will take charge of the burial ceremony at the military cemetery.
Stan Dogbe assured that measures have been put in place to accommodate the large crowd and government officials expected to attend the ceremony.
“Because of the rather large number of people that would be expected tomorrow, a number of measures have been taken to ensure that we have a very solemn ceremony. For the media that is here, you would have seen the ongoing setup.
“We are trying our best to provide as many chairs as we can to accommodate the thousands of people that we expect to join the various families and the government officials here for the service,” he stated.
Helicopter crash: Gov’t outlines arrangement for State funeral for victims
