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Coordinator of the District Road Improvement Programme (DRIP), Nii Lantey Vanderpuye, has called for urgent action against illegal mining (“galamsey”) in the wake of the helicopter crash that claimed eight lives.
According to Vanderpuye, the deceased had “sacrificed their lives” in their commitment to ending galamsey, and the most fitting tribute would be a decisive and uncompromising crackdown on the menace.
Speaking at a flower-laying ceremony on Friday, August 8, 2025, he declared:
For the lives of these people, I would say we should go all out and finish these galamsey people. I will support any decision to go all out in this situation.
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These people have sacrificed their lives for the sake of ending galamsey. If they’ve made that sacrifice for us as a country, we have no excuse but to end galamsey.
Visibly moved, Vanderpuye stressed that the nation must treat the loss of such patriots as a turning point in the fight against environmental destruction.
I wish I had the authority; it would be war. We can’t lose these people and still allow others to remain in the forests and rivers, destroying our environment
He added.
Background of the tragedy
On Wednesday, August 6, 2025, a Ghana Armed Forces Z-9 helicopter crashed in the Adansi Akrofuom District of the Ashanti Region, killing 5 high-ranking government officials and 3 military personnel.
Among the dead were Defence Minister Dr Edward Omane Boamah, Minister for Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed, Muniru Mohammed (acting Deputy National Security Coordinator), Samuel Aboagye (former MP), and Samuel Sarpong (vice chairman of the NDC).
Military casualties included Squadron Leader Peter Bafemi Anala, Flying Officer Mane-Twum Ampadu, and Sergeant Ernest Addo Mensah.
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Chief of Staff Julius Debrah described the incident as a “national disaster” at a press briefing, announcing that all national flags would be flown at half-mast until further notice in honour of the victims.
Preliminary reports indicate that the helicopter, which was en route to Obuasi, went off radar shortly before the fatal crash.