Adieu to our eight patriotic helicopter-crash heroes!
“Very colourful and beautiful,” was how a local radio station on August 16, 2025, described the solemn funeral ceremony on Friday, August 15, 2025 at the Black Star Square/Military Cemetery, Burma Camp, of the eight deceased Ghanaians who died tragically in a helicopter crash near Obuasi on August 6, 2025.
They were on their way to launch a programme aimed at stemming the tide of illegal mining, aka “galamsey” when the unexpected happened.
The five government delegation members were Defence Minister Dr Omane Boamah, Environment, Science and Technology Minister Dr Murtala Mohammed, Dr SS Sarpong, Alhaji Limuna Muniru and Mr Samuel Sarpong.
The aircrew of the Ghana Air Force, who were all posthumously promoted, were the captain Wg Cdr Peter Anala, co-pilot Flt Lt Twum Ampadu and technician F/Sgt Ernest Addo Mensah.
It was a sad and emotional ceremony, which saw the nation united in grief to mourn the fallen heroes.
Particularly striking was how MPs of both parties, in a rare show of unity and solidarity, stood sorrowfully behind the Speaker as he paid tribute to the fallen eight.
I asked myself, why has this unity not been the case in Parliament?
Why has Parliament degenerated into an arena of constant adversarial criticism?
This took me to my July 2020 COVID-19 article, “Criticism is good but encouragement is better,” quoted below.
The incident reminded me of one of Boxing’s greatest trainers, Angelo Dundee. Among the boxing legends he trained are “the Greatest,” Muhammed Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard and George Foreman. Asked how he motivated boxers to the highest levels, he answered, “Criticism is good, but encouragement is better.”
He explained that while he criticised his boxers a lot, he encouraged them a lot more. He quickly added that constant criticism without encouragement only destroys. I find Dundee’s assertion even more relevant in this COVID-19 era in Ghana where we either swim together as a country or drown together.
Destructive criticism
Unfortunately, Ghanaians appear not to have the patience they have for foreigners, for fellow Ghanaians.
While we bend over backwards to please foreigners even if their activities harm us, we are intolerant and quick to criticise our own, often not constructively.
Our FM radios and televisions are replete with daily insults hurled by both educated and non-educated Ghanaians of all ages irrespective of status, at fellow Ghanaians.
Ironically, in spite of the malice we dispense so generously, we claim to be a religious people. It is obvious that we only make a show of religion.
Again, we do not appreciate, praise and reward merit, success and achievement. Meritocracy has thus given way to mediocrity.
Questions
The more I think of Angelo Dundee’s dictum, the more I ask questions like below:
• Why are we so intolerant and hard on ourselves, and see nothing good in one another simply for having different political viewpoints?
• Why do we find it so difficult to praise Ghanaians for their achievements, but so easy to find fault and criticise destructively?
• Why have lawlessness, disrespect and indiscipline replaced the traditional values of respect for elders and authority?
• Why has discipline disappeared?
• Do we really want to survive COVID-19 together?
National identity
When the interviewer in a radio programme asked a learned man of God what he thought was the strongest attribute of the Ghanaian, he answered “traditional Ghanaian Hospitality.”
Asked who the hospitality was directed at, he said “to foreigners.” However, he could not convincingly explain why Ghanaians direct hospitality to foreigners but not to compatriots, who only qualify for criticism.
A contributor quoted the old saying “Charity begins at home” and suggested that if Ghanaians could not be hospitable to fellow Ghanaians but could be to foreigners, then it smacks of hypocrisy, insincerity and dishonesty in our national character.
She asked how people could be so unkind to their countrymen/women, but shower kindness on foreigners who destroy Ghana through “galamsey.”
Attitude
When asked in an interview in Germany about Ghana’s greatest passion for football, Nigerian ex-international footballer JJ Okocha had this as his summary for Ghanaian footballers: “…flair,... talented… but underachievers.”
He explained that in spite of all the talent Ghana has produced in football, we have not done as well as one would have thought.
He stated: “I know that Ghanaians are so talented and always produce great players.
But they always have issues with coming together as a team.
I don’t know whether it is ego problems, but the big players seem to fight one another. That is why they are underachievers!”
We are certainly operating below our optimum as a nation not only in football, but in all spheres!
As an octogenarian friend puts it, we do things selfishly “with malice aforethought!”
In all human endeavours, leadership is the most important single factor hence the saying “leadership is cause, the rest is effect!” Leadership is best by example.
Our problems of filth, insulting language, road traffic indiscipline and resultant accidents and casualties, and general indiscipline have long outlived their expiry dates and must be tackled head-on, and not violence for power!
Discussion
Sadly, at a time of national tragedy when Ghanaians were mourning, some Ghanaians gleefully took a wicked swipe at the accident, as in Julius Caesar’s “unkindest cut of all,” which even Cain/Lady-Macbeth/Shylock who epitomise evil, would have been disgusted with, only to apologise later. How cruel can we be?
To my fellow Ghanaians, please desist from making insensitive speculations about what caused the crash. Leave that to the aviation experts.
To our prophets of “disaster, doom and death,” please go beyond only negatives, and prophesy positives.
The greatest tribute we can pay to the memory of the patriotic eight is to stop galamsey!
So, Mr President, please let the ruthlessness promised Ghanaians materialise, to convince Ghanaians that the eight did not die in vain, but for God and country!
To our MPs, remember Angelo Dundee’s dictum, “Criticism is good, but encouragement is better,” and rally behind Mr Speaker in unity as you did at Black Star Square during the funeral on Friday, August 15, 2025.
May the souls of the gallant 8 RIP!
Similarly, may the souls of the 16 children of the Obogu Saviours Church who died in a road traffic accident at Atwedie on the Accra-Kumasi Highway on July 28, 2025 RIP!
Leadership, lead by example/integrity! Fellow Ghanaians, wake up!
The writer is a former CEO, African Peace Support Trainers Association
Nairobi, Kenya; Council Chairman, Family Health University,
Teshie, Accra
E-mail: dkfrimpong@yahoo.com
