Hamza Suhuyini Sayibu, a communications team member of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), has raised concerns over the manner in which the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) responded to their helicopter that crashed on Wednesday, August 6, 2025.
He has condemned the slow response of the military to the incident, where civilians instead, went ahead of them in an attempt to help salvage the accident victims.
According to him, he thought the military was exempt from the challenges facing state institutions, until the Adansi Akrofuom helicopter crash that claimed the lives of all eight persons on board.
On the BigIssue segment of the NewDay show on TV3 Tuesday, August 12, 2025, the private legal practitioner expressed disappointment with the uniformed men’s reaction to the incident.
“For some time I was thinking that the paucity that has engulfed our state institutions, the military was an exception,” he stated.
“For something of this nature to have happened, with the Minister for Defence on board, and even at the crash site, for hours after the Ghana military issued a statement about a missing helicopter, and the news eventually came about the discovery of same, it had to take civilians of the Republic of Ghana, after an hour or two, to be seen actively on the site of the crash trying to salvage the situation,” he lamented.
He questioned the Armed Forces’ ability to defend the nation in times of national emergency if their response to this crash was that poor.
Mr. Suhuyini’s thoughts were characterised by a myriad of questions, trying to make sense of the situation. With his clear insight into how soldiers carry out orders based on superior command, he directed his reservations at the top hierarchy, whose command the men would have acted upon.
“These are the people who are supposed to defend the Republic in case of an emergency and they could not mobilise to get to the site of the mortal remains of their Defence Minister in a matter of an hour?
“They could not secure the perimeters of the crash site for their own investigations? They could not dignify these gallant servers of our republic by even taking charge of their remains and even carrying it? As our military, what were they engaged in, –the top rank of the Ghana military. This is scary,” he lamented, adding that the entire development is scary for the State’s security.
The crash in question claimed eight lives, including Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, Minister of Defence; Dr. Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation; Muniru Mohammed, Acting Deputy National Security Coordinator; Samuel Aboagye, former parliamentary candidate; and Samuel Sarpong, Vice Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
The crew members who perished were Squadron Leader Peter Bafemi Anala, Flying Officer Manin Twum-Ampadu, and Sergeant Ernest Addo Mensah.
The Ghana Armed Forces earlier reported that the Z-9 helicopter, carrying three crew members and five passengers, had gone “off the radar” shortly after departure from Accra at 09:12 GMT. The aircraft was en route to Obuasi for an anti-illegal mining operation. A search-and-rescue mission later confirmed that all eight on board had died.
