By Nicholas Osei-Wusu
The chiefs and people of the twin communities of Sikaman and Brofoyedru at Adansi Akrofuom in the Ashanti region have expressed satisfaction for their recognition and appreciation shown to them by the government for their roles in supporting the search and rescue operation in the wake of the infamous helicopter disaster a year ago.
In an interview with our Ashanti Regional Correspondent, the Assembly Member for the Sikaman-Brofoyedru Electoral Area, Matthew Baah, disclosed that, true to their words, the Ghana Armed Forces have recruited six (6) citizens of Sikaman, Brofoyedru and one other community into the Forces and are currently undergoing training with the first batch of the recruits.
“The CO of the Ghana Armed Forces has also done well. The Military wrote to the communities that they will use protocol to recruit some members of the towns into the Forces because of our support. They have recruited six people who are with the 1st batch undergoing training and expected to complete in about a month’s time. They are not among those who carried the remains of the victims.”
“12 out of the 13 men who carried the victims from the scene have also successfully gone through medicals and will be part of the 2nd batch of Recruits. Only one of them could not pass the medicals,” the Assembly Member disclosed.
Mr. Baah also said that the government has awarded the Kojokrom-Obuasi-Tutuka road project on contract and that it is being constructed in three lots. According to him, some of the contractors are on site.
As Ghana commemorates the tragedy, the Assembly Member said an earlier plan by the Akrofuom District Assembly to hold an Inter-faith memorial prayer session and wreath laying at Brofoyedru were later called off without any known reason. The only notable memorial occurrence observed were people standing in groups discussing how the day looked like. The queen mother of one of the communities had also erected a steel signage as memorabilia of the disaster.
The Helicopter crash
Around 9 am on a wet and foggy Wednesday, 6th August, 2025, a military helicopter conveying five government and ruling party functionaries on an official assignment at Obuasi crashed in the Dampia Forest in the Adansi Akrofuom district of Ashanti. All five passengers and three crew members died in the crash.
The delegation, led by then Minister of Defence, Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, with his colleague Minister of State, Alhaji Dr. Ibrahim, were on their way to Obuasi to, on behalf of the President, launch a new programme-Responsible Community Mining and Development, as a replacement for unregulated gold mining activities at the Black Park and were just about 10 minutes away from landing in Obuasi for the event when the helicopter crashed at the summit of the mountain deep in the Forest reserve.
GBC gathered from the town folks that, about an hour earlier before the disaster, they had seen the helicopter in the area and even tried about five times to land on the field of a local basic school but was unsuccessful. It then flew away into the range until they could later hear of a bang. They were however unaware of what that sound meant.
It was a farmer, who witnessed the crash, who rushed to the Brofoyedru community at the base of the mountain, who rushed home to raise an alarm of the disaster. This drew inhabitants of Brofoyedru and Sikaman, out of curiosity and concern, to the scene, where they gathered ahead of the arrival of a Ghana Armed Forces search and rescue team.
Some of these people took home part of the wreckage of the helicopter as well as some personal effects of the victims, perhaps, as souvenir of the incident more than as stealing.
But the local people came in handy for the Armed Forces in their operations as the people, familiar with the environment, supported and cooperated in the entire operation including physically carrying the remains to Brofoyedru before Ambulances from the Ghana Armed Forces and National Ambulance Service could convey the remains to the Kumasi Airport.
As a patriotic gesture, following an appeal by the Ghana Armed Forces and the Assembly Member for the area, all those in possession of any item linked to the disaster-whether a wreckage or personal effect-voluntarily returned same unconditionally.
When all was said and done, a delegation of government and NDC functionaries, led by the National Chairman, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, went back to the communities just to say ‘Thank You’ for and on behalf of the government and people of Ghana for the tremendous support and cooperation in the search and rescue mission. During the durbar, Mr. Asiedu Nketiah, handed over various sums of cash and Certificate of Appreciation to all those who played key roles in retrieving the remains and wreckage from the disaster scene, including 13 males who helped the Ghana Armed Forces to carry the bodies from the scene.
The Ashanti Regional Minister, Dr. Frank Amoakohene, assured that government would provide the area with a legacy project in appreciation for the sacrifices of the inhabitants. The people were again promised that, they would be considered in the next recruitment drive of the Ghana Armed Forces.
