Member of Parliament for Akim Abuakwa South, Dr Kingsley Agyemang, has urged Ghana to confront illegal mining (galamsey) with the intensity of a wartime campaign, following the August 6, 2025, helicopter crash that claimed eight lives.
The victims included Defence Minister Dr Edward Omane Boamah, Environment Minister Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, and six others who were en route to Obuasi on a mission linked to the anti-galamsey effort.
“If these gallant men were on their way to confront the scourge of illegal mining, then the fight against galamsey must now assume the same urgency with which we respond to war,” Dr Agyemang declared. “We owe them more than tributes; we owe them commitment and action.”
He stressed that national mourning should not end with ceremonial praise, but with sustained dedication to the cause for which the victims gave their lives. “This painful moment reminds us of the quiet risks borne each day by those who serve our country. Their sacrifice, though often unseen, is real,” he said.
Dr Agyemang, who was a schoolmate of the late Defence Minister at Pope John Senior High School, offered prayers for all the victims, vowing that their memory would not fade into history’s footnotes.
The crash claimed the lives of Dr Omane Boamah, Mr Murtala Muhammed, Acting Deputy National Security Coordinator Alhaji Mohammed Muniru Limuna, NDC Vice-Chair Samuel Sarpong, former Obuasi East parliamentary candidate Samuel Aboagye, Squadron Leader Peter Bafemi Anala, Flying Officer Malin Twum-Ampadu, and Sergeant Ernest Addo Mensah. They were aboard a Ghana Armed Forces Z-9 helicopter when it went down en route to Obuasi.
