The National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, has recounted how he narrowly escaped being on the Ghana Air Force helicopter that crashed on August 6, 2025, killing eight people, including two ministers.
Speaking during a courtesy call on the families of the bereaved, Asiedu Nketiah revealed that he had initially been scheduled to join the flight but had to attend to another engagement.
As a result, he delegated Dr Samuel Sarpong, Vice Chairman of the NDC, to represent the party in his place, a decision that tragically cost Sarpong his life.
“I was supposed to be on the flight, and then at the last minute I directed my vice chairman, who is Sarpong, that he should go and stand in for the party.
“In your human ways, you will be thinking that had I not sent Sarpong, maybe it would have been me. But who knows? God might have decided that if this was his time, he would be knocked down by a trotro in Accra.
“So, we don’t question what Allah wants to do. In all this, we have to give thanks to Him, because if this hadn’t happened, something worse might have happened.”
The crash occurred while the delegation was on its way to the launch of the Responsible Cooperative Mining and Skills Development Programme (rCOMSDEP) at Black Park, near the Obuasi Len Clay Sports Stadium in the Ashanti Region.
The accident claimed the lives of, Dr Edward Kofi Omane Boamah, Minister of Defence, Dr Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed, Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, Alhaji Mohammed Muniru Limuna, Acting Deputy National Security Coordinator, Dr Samuel Sarpong, Vice Chairman of the NDC, Samuel Aboagye, Deputy Director-General of NADMO, Squadron Leader Peter Baafemi Anala, Ghana Air Force, Flying Officer Manaen Twum Ampadu, Ghana Air Force and Sergeant Ernest Addo Mensah, Ghana Air Force.
I was supposed to be on the helicopter; however, at the eleventh hour, I designated my Vice Chairman Dr. Sarpong-Chairman Asiedu Nketiah
— Popo🇰🇼🇬🇭 (@Popony_J) August 8, 2025
AM/SEA
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