By Benjamin Akoto
Sunyani, (Bono), Aug. 16, GNA-Some residents in the Sunyani Municipality have called on the Government to improve the nation’s emergency response systems and safety protocols of state officials.
As the nation pays its last respects to the eight people who died in the tragic military helicopter crash, the residents said enhanced safety protocols were required to prevent needless deaths associated with crashes.
The late Dr Edward Omane Boamah, the Minister for Defence, and late Dr Alhaji Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, Minister for Environment, Science,and Technology, together with six others died in the fatal crash, which occurred in the Adansi Akrofuom District of the Ashanti Region Wednesday August 6, 2025.
Accordingly, an interdenominational funeral and burial service was held at the Independence Square for the victims, including late Wing Commander Peter Anala, and late Flight Lieutenant Manean Twum-Ampadu, late Flight Sergeant Ernest Addo Mensah, late Samuel Saprong and late Alhaji Limuna Muniru Mohammed.
Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Sunyani, the residents condoled with the bereaved families and Ghanaians in general.
Benedict Awuku, a Teaching Assistant at the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR), said the crash was painful, saying, “if the emergency response systems had worked, the impact of the crash would have been reduced.”
However, he added that: “We can’t reverse the tragedy and must therefore learn lessons from it and avert future mishaps.”
Miss Gifty Adza Korkor, a student, also expressed concern about poor road infrastructure, especially the deplorable condition of the Accra-Kumasi highways, noting that “if our roads are good the victims could have used the road, instead of the air.”
Master Obed Oppong, another student, also called for stricter protocols for official travels, saying, “These patriotic individuals died before the nation could fully benefit from their expertise.”
Mr Julius Ankamah, a shop attendant, urged the government to use the “tragedy as a turning point in the fight against illegal mining, which contributed indirectly to the tragic loss of the victims.”
GNA
Edited by Dennis Peprah/Lydia Kukua Asamoah