6 Patriots laid to rest at Military Cemetery
The remains of six of the eight August 6 helicopter crash victims were interred at the Military Cemetery in Accra yesterday as the nation bid the patriots a grand farewell.
The state funeral of the six came with a wreath-laying ceremony as the nation united in grief, bringing some closure to the nine days of mourning for eight lives truncated by the air disaster.
The six interred yesterday were the Defence Minister, Dr Edward Omane Boamah; former Ashanti Regional Minister and a Vice-Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Samuel Sarpong; a Deputy Coordinator of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Samuel Aboagye; Squadron Leader Peter Bafemi Anala, the pilot; Flying Officer Manaen Twum Ampadu, co-pilot; and Sergeant Ernest Addo-Mensah.
Two of the victims — Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, Dr Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, and acting Deputy National Security Coordinator, Alhaji Mohammed Muniru Limuna — were buried earlier on Sunday, August 10, 2025 in accordance with Islamic dictates.
The wreath-laying ceremony and interment preceded a state funeral for all eight which saw the posthumous promotion of Squadron Leader Peter Bafemi Anala to the rank of Wing Commander, Flying Officer Manaen Twum Ampadu to the rank of Flight Lieutenant, and Sergeant Ernest Addo-Mensah to the rank of Flight Sergeant.
It was the last in a series of state-sanctioned events to honour the fallen patriots.
Burial procession
At exactly 1:15 p.m, guests, sympathisers and family members were seated under a canopy draped in red and black.
The cloudy atmosphere was thick with reverence and solemnity as the military casket escort and burial party commenced a slow march, honouring the fallen men to the poignant strains of the hymn, “It is well with my soul”, a song born from the depths of personal tragedy by Horatio Spafford in 1873.
As the clock struck 1:53 p.m., the military burial party lowered the caskets cradling the remains of the six patriots.
With a swift, resolute march, they exited the platform, paving the way for the pensive wreath-laying ceremony to begin.
Clergymen then stepped forward, and with their voices rising in prayer, they committed the souls of the patriots to the earth and to God.
Midway into the poignant occasion, the air continued to crackle with the solemnity of the moment, but this was broken by a sharp and heavy round of gun firing after which officers in uniform rendered a final salute in memory of the fallen men.
Wreath laying
The President, John Dramani Mahama, who is also the Commander in Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces, laid the first of 14 wreaths on behalf of Ghanaians and the Armed Forces.
The Chairperson of the Armed Forces Council, Vice-President Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, laid the second wreath.
The Deputy Minister of Defence, Brogya Gyamfi, laid the third wreath on behalf of the Ministry of Defence, while the Chief of Defence Staff, Lieutenant General William Agyapong, laid the fourth wreath on behalf of the Ghana Armed Forces.
The fifth wreath was laid on behalf of the Ghana Air Force by the Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Eric Agyen-Frimpong, with the National Security Secretariat’s wreath laid by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.
The Director-General of NADMO, Major Dr Joseph Bikanyi Kuyon (retd), laid the seventh wreath, while the Chairman of the governing National Democratic Congress, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, laid the eighth wreath on behalf of the party.
The bodies of the three military men were interred in the military section of the cemetery, while the civilian leaders found their eternal rest in the hallowed ground at the national memorial section at about 2:45 p.m, with the ceremony ending at exactly 3:11 p.m.
