Families and colleagues have paid moving tributes to the eight people killed in the Ghana Air Force helicopter crash on August 6, describing them as devoted public servants and cherished loved ones.
At a state funeral in Accra on Friday, the children of the late National Democratic Congress (NDC) Vice Chairman, Samuel Sarpong, broke down as they honoured their father.
Sarpong, 64, died alongside seven others when a Ghana Air Force Z-9 helicopter went down in the Ashanti Region en route to Obuasi for the launch of the Responsible Community and Cooperative Mining Programme.
He left behind five children: four sons and a daughter, who remembered him as “more than a father… our hero, our role model, our anchor, our friend, and our greatest teacher.”
“You lived your life with purpose, dignity, and an unwavering sense of duty,” they said. “Though your departure has left a void no one can fill, your legacy lives on in us.”
The crash also claimed the lives of Defence Minister Dr Edward Omane Boamah; Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation Dr Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed; former parliamentary candidate Samuel Aboagye; Acting Deputy National Security Coordinator Alhaji Limuna Muniru Mohammed; and three Air Force crew members — Squadron Leader Peter Bafemi Anala, Flying Officer Manaen Twum-Ampadu, and Sergeant Ernest Addo Mensah.
The Ghana Armed Forces used the ceremony to pay tribute to Flying Officer Manaen Twum-Ampadu, describing him as “a brilliant and promising young officer whose light was extinguished far too soon.”
Commissioned in 2021 after graduating from the Royal Air Force Training Academy, Twum-Ampadu was remembered as a top performer and a skilled aviator who combined “sharp intellect with relentless determination.”
“His humility, warmth, infectious smile, and enthusiasm left an indelible mark on all who served alongside him,” the Armed Forces said.
Condolences were extended to his wife, Lt (GN) Ewurajoa Kumi-Kyeremeh, and family, with military commanders pledging his sacrifice would “never be forgotten.”
The August 6 crash is among the deadliest military aviation accidents in Ghana’s recent history and has triggered an outpouring of grief nationwide.
