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National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, has disclosed that he was originally meant to be on the helicopter that crashed in the Ashanti Region on Wednesday, August 6, claiming the lives of eight people, including two cabinet ministers.
The fatal incident, which occurred in the Adansi area, resulted in the deaths of Defence Minister Dr Edward Kofi Omane Boamah, Minister for Environment, Science and Technology Dr Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, NDC Vice Chairman Dr Samuel Sarpong, and five others.
According to Mr Nketiah, a sudden change in plans led to Dr Sarpong representing him on the trip to Obuasi for the launch of the Responsible Co-operative Mining and Skills Development Programme (COMSDEP).
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Speaking while consoling one of the bereaved families, he said,
Allah does what he wants. I was supposed to be on the flight, and at the last minute, I directed my vice chairman, Dr Sarpong, to go and stand in for the party, and he accepted it.
Mr Nketiah encouraged the grieving families to find comfort in their faith, describing the incident as a reminder of life’s uncertainties.
Reflecting on the tragic loss of Dr Sarpong and the seven others, he stated,
In your human ways, you may be thinking that if I had not sent Sarpong, maybe he would be living. But who knows? God might have decided that if this is his time, he will be knocked down by a trotro [commercial bus] in Accra. So, we don’t question what Allah wants to do. So, in all things, we give thanks to him.
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While acknowledging the magnitude of the loss, he further noted that
if it didn’t happen, something worse might have happened
Urging mourners to hold on to that possibility for comfort.
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Mr Nketiah described Dr Sarpong’s decision to take his place as an act of selfless service to both the party and the nation, emphasising that his passing leaves a deep void in the NDC.
Authorities are still investigating the cause of the crash.