By Paul Abudulai Yelinje rev

Copyright modernghana

NB: These are my personal views and convictions and not associated with any politician or party.

IntroductionAfter literally weeping for the past weeks without much strength to write much until now with a little energy as duty bemoans, I now respond to duty with this piece. I wept not because people have died, but I wept because fathers are lost, husbands are lost, children are lost, bread winners are lost, destinies face extinction, several school fees, hospital bills, national conscience, and government functionaries are lost. I wept because, I lost a cousin, I wept because the Gonja kingdom has lost an asset and above all they were on the line of duty to fight a bane that has plagued the Ghanaian society for years due to a few greedy wicked folks. Yes, I wept because they died not on foot, not on the road nor anywhere near the capital city or state house wherein power of the country is held. I wept because these people were lost due to a failed nation and a dysfunctional system.

They were handpicked by benevolent farmers in a thick forest somewhere no one would have ever easily imagined to ever visit even if they were paid to do it. But wicked and coward as death is, attacked them in the air as they were powerless and victimise and rendered as captives of death, it took them down a steep mountain in a thick densely forested zone of Adanseafuaose. Death, you thought you could have escaped with them unnoticed and their bodies unfound but with diligent folks like the farmers, Ashanti regional minister onsite every single one of your victims was found. They were not left to the mercy of the forest, but hauled to the capital and the sit of government as national heroes of a martyrdom of illegal mining. Truly, I dare say they were martyrs of a dysfunctional system and not illegal mining.

This dysfunctional system was clearly exposed and manifested in our emergency response as our nation was caught pants down unprepared for such circumstances. Truly we are mourning and hold these fallen heroes very high and the best we can do to honour their memory and martyrdom is not to shy away from critically questioning the system as a people. Indeed if what we are hearing is the truth, this means the lost would have included the first gentleman of our country. How would we have handled this situation, God forbid!

This is not a simple matter to be joked around as business as usual. It is a serious matter and the earlier Mr President John Dramani Mahama sits up and take caution as far as security is concerned the better. Sir, I empathize with you sincerely and no one will wish to be in your position in anyway. I know you are a man of great wisdom and insight, please this sad tragedy affords you a reality to re-examine things within and around you sir. Death, a bold coward who never announces nor makes its intentions known to its victims visited us once again as a nation. Deaths bravery and audacious blows are often felt and seen after it has departed with mighty men and women of valour without leaving a trace or clue of those who it captures as captives and victims.

This coward call death robbed Ghana of 16 young persons who went for a Church annual programme and were tragically snatched on the 28th of July, 2025 on their way back. Whiles our wounds and tears were yet to be dried as if that was not enough, on August 6th, 2025, a Ghana Air Force Harbin Z-9EH helicopter crashed in the Adansi Akrofuom District of the Ashanti Region, killing all eight people on board. It was enroute from the Air force base in Accra to Obuasi for an anti-illicit mining event. This bane which has plagued us for years now, has claimed lives we cannot quantify. Numerous people are buried in pits, many died out of polluted water from illegal mining, soldiers died not by bullets from war front but by the pelts of stones and blocks, and how could we easily forget of those water guards who died by drowning? How can we also forget sadly, about the deformed children who bore the brunt of this illegality? Time will not permit me to list all the atrocities and loss which have visited our country because of this illegality. The question is how long will this continue?

Among those lost recently in this gruesome crush were:

Dr Edward Omane Boamah: Defence Minister

Dr Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed: Environment, Science and Technology Minister

Al-haji Muniru Lemuna Mohammed (Chief): Acting Deputy National Security Coordinator

Dr Samuel Sarpong: National Democratic Congress Party Vice-Chair

Samuel Aboagye: Former parliamentary candidate of the Obuase East Constituency

Three Ghana Air Force crew members The crash was labeled “one of Ghana’s worst air disasters in more than a decade”

National Mourning and Early ReactionsIn response, the government declared three days of national mourning starting August 7, 2025, with flags at half-mast and public observances, including candle lighting in Parliament grounds and memorials at the State House

Victims’ remains were transported to Accra, and identification was conducted via DNA analysis in South Africa. We could not even do the identification of our own kinsmen in our country because the system is dysfunctional. In their painfully churned bodies yearning for some cold quit surrounding, they were again carried to another man’s land to be identified by strangers for us. The reason is simple, the stranger has a functioning system while our own is dysfunctional, shamefully admitted.

President John Dramani Mahama, was described as “emotionally devastated,” personally led response efforts and extended condolences to all concerned families. A situation no one will ever desire to get closer to talk less experience it as he did.

He also announced a formal inquiry, confirming the recovery of flight data and cockpit voice recorders among others to aid in investigation. Again, since we did not have a functional enough system, it took us time to even settle on another man from another land to come and tell us what caused the accident. The so called experts what to convince us that it is normal to have another man come and tell us what caused this, but they forgot to answer the bigger question of why we cannot have what this stranger has to determine what happen on our soil here? Well, these and many excuses has been what has brought us here in the first place and the better we tell ourselves the truth and fix our dysfunctional system, to live together or we all perish someday. And it is not a matter of who will not be affected, rather when will it happen?

Emergency Response: A Troubling Glimpse

Eyewitness accounts highlighted a concerning delay: regional security officials, including the Ashanti Regional Minister, Metropolitan Chief Executive of Kumasi and members of the Ashanti Regional Security Council, reportedly trekked through thick forest for nearly two hours to reach the crash site. This delay underscores potential weaknesses in Ghana’s emergency response infrastructure notably, a lack of preparedness, terrain-adaptive access, and rapid-deployment capability in remote forested areas. And even with this, the so called experts will convince us that, it is normal and there is no problem with our disaster response preparedness. All these, because we hate the truth as a people. But how long should we behave like Ostriches? But in the words of JDM in his recent speech which set the globe ablaze, “if it quarks like a duck, swims like a duck, then it is a duck”. In the same manner, our system is dysfunctional and failed in relation to emergency response. Therefore no amount of massaged words can cover responsibility.

Military Tooling: Are We Equipped?In the very heat of the tragedy, analysts have pointed to broader systemic issues of which hands were pointed to military retooling. But Ostriches as we are the noise has died down and no one mentions it again.

The deployment of a Chinese-made Z-9EH helicopter, a variant of the Euro-copter Dauphin, though versatile, may raise questions about maintenance standards, crew familiarity, and logistics readiness. While crew competence has been ruled out from all indicators, the other variables only receive explanations and in most cases silence till now, yet to be told. It is rumoured and alleged that, the crash occurred under poor visibility conditions, with survivors noting heavy haze that impaired navigation. This combination of weather unpredictability and the absence of robust avionics or terrain awareness systems are troubling for military transport safety and needs no expert to come from another man’s land to tell us to fix it. These elements suggest vulnerabilities in Ghana’s military aviation architecture, including out-dated tooling, insufficient training, and huge technology gaps.

A Cautionary Note for Presidential and National Security Planning

Ghana has long been regarded as a bastion of democratic stability in West Africa amid regional unrest. The loss of its Defence Minister, a key figure in maintaining Ghana’s security posture, is a profound blow. Ironically he died with an assistant national security coordinator with a military aircraft, the military that we rely on chiefly in relation to national security especially against external aggression. Is this not enough to raise many questions and whack us out of our slumber as a people? Must we all die to realise the gravity of what befell us this recent weeks as a people?

The nation must now urgently bolster:Emergency Infrastructure: Establish rapid-response teams, enhance remote area access through airlift or ground capabilities, and improve coordination among civil and security agencies. Is it not possible to have community volunteers in Disaster response in every big town across the country? This is possible, if we can take responsibility by involving the assembly members and unity committee members.

Military Aviation Standards: Update equipment, maintain rigorous training and human-factors protocols, and integrate advanced navigation and safety systems. The conversation here is even more complex as it sounds like there are even just no functional crafts to be used by the military. And this is so heart-breaking. With the benefit of technology, we have the privilege to watch military of other countries on the globe. The question I keep asking is, why can’t we have such here too? Does our military not deserve those too? Well, I know the so call experts will come and have a very nice explanation why we cannot have those!

Security Architecture Resilience: Ensure continuity and active defence operations. While, the Ghanaian military seem to be on top of their game, it does sound like unbridled political interference in recent past years are beginning to leave cracks in the military and needs to be sealed for the better. Our men in uniform should be given the needed space as well as purged of all politicians in uniforms in our barracks. The military of yesterday years seem to have lost that aura they once carried. A few years ago, it was alleged that, the military so much eroded to the extent of military persons becoming market delivery persons and fufu pounders in homes. Tragedly, those who should know and speak for us who do not know will come and offer nice explanations why this was not a problem at all.

Ultimately, Mr President John Dramani Mahama, and Ghana’s leadership must use this tragedy not only to mourn as we are very good at doing, but also to rebuild resilience, strengthen civil-military coordination, and safeguard against future lapses in both emergency response and strategic security governance.

Road and Rail Infrastructure: The truth is that, we have lost needless lives in Ghana due to bad roads and I dare say including these two major ones of which I write. How do you explain to me that, from January to August this year, 1,937 people have been killed and 10,957 people injured through road accidents. This is from the NRSA, not from any mere body in our country. Are these figures not enough? Can we blame all these on only the drivers on our roads, even though the drivers have a part in it. But the point is how do you blame a driver who tries his very best to transport people to a destination without road and they literally sometimes have to create roads by themselves to get their passengers across to their destination. The roads are just not there. And if they are there, they are not good. And shamefully, who do we blame? All of us are complacent because; contracts in this country are not given to people based on competence but on party affiliation and tribe. How do you explain given contract to a person with only a wheel barrow as the only equipment and even that wheel barrow are broken in the wheel?

On the other hand, even those with the equipment will not construct the roads with quality materials and so while they yet to finish the road project, the first part of the road calls for repairs and sadly same road will be commissioned by those who should be the watchers amidst hailing’s. And again, who should be blamed? Is it the contractor? Definitely all of us because, the contractor before the contract begins has already paid more than half of the money to different people in the cartel and at the end is left with just little to work with. This is where our road woes come from, and sad enough instead of each District Assembly to also take responsibility to commit a portion of their funds to repairing when any small damage is seen, they rather sit there unconcern, plying the same road until everything is won out again. The list goes on and time will not allow me to speak about the overloading that damage our roads, with the police sitting watching no action because they have been given money.

I conclude my lamentations by saying that, in the wake of all these cries, I want to appeal to Mr President John Dramani Mahama, to consider a legacy project of at least one rail way line from Accra through Kumasi to Tamale through Damongo to Wa. And from Wa through Bolga to Ho then to Accra. Then Accra through Kasoa to Cape Coast to Takoradi. And ensuring that atleast all the regional capitals are connected by a High Speed Rail just like the fibre optice were laid. I understand you are visiting China this October; rail way should be one of your conversations sir. This can be done, at least even if not all, start from somewhere as your legacy and it will continue from where you left off as time is not on your side. Rome they said was not built in a day.

In a whisper, I beg to ask how far has the investigations gone? Or as we are good at forgetting after explanations from the so call experts we have soon forgotten this one too?

By Rev. Paul Abudulai Yelinje