Ghana’s Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, on Thursday delivered a deeply moving tribute to the eight victims of last week’s military helicopter crash, saying the nation had lost “not only precious lives, but dreams, hopes, and the bright promise of tomorrow.”
The state funeral, held on Thursday at the Forecourt of the State House in Accra, was attended by President John Dramani Mahama, Vice President, Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, ministers of state, families of the victims, the diplomatic corps, and hundreds of mourners who came to pay their last respects.
The service will be followed by the burial of Defence Minister Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, former parliamentary candidate for Obuasi East, Samuel Aboagye, National Democratic Congress (NDC) Vice Chairman Samuel Sarpong, Squadron Leader Peter Bafemi Anala, Flying Officer Manin Twum-Ampadu, and Sergeant Ernest Addo Mensah at the Military Cemetery at Tse Addo.
The other two are Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr. Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, and Acting Deputy National Security Coordinator, Alhaji Limuna Muniru Mohammed, who were buried on August 10 under Islamic rites.
Speaker Bagbin recalled that “many of these fallen heroes stood among us, united in grief, as we bid farewell to others—never imagining their own end would follow so swiftly.”
In his tribute, Bagbin spoke with visible emotion, recalling the personal qualities of the deceased. “These were not just names on a programme; they were fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, friends each with a unique story, each with a dream that was tragically cut short,” he said.
He called on Ghanaians to honour the legacy of the fallen by recommitting to the ideals they stood for service, unity, and sacrifice. “Their lives remind us that the measure of a person is not in the years they live, but in the lives they touch,” he noted.
