In the midst of the solemn pageantry of Friday’s state funeral at Black Star Square, one voice cut through the military precision with raw emotion — that of Naval Lieutenant Awura Adjoa Kumi-Kyere, paying tribute to her late husband, Flying Officer Manaen Twum Ampadu.
The young Air Force officer was among the eight distinguished Ghanaians who perished in the August 6 Sikaman helicopter crash in the Adansi Akrofrom District of the Ashanti Region. He died in service alongside his fellow crew members, Squadron Leader Peter Bafemi Anala and Sergeant Ernest Addo Mensah, as they accompanied a high-level delegation on its way to launch the government’s Cooperative Mining Initiative in Obuasi.
Fighting back tears, Lt. Kumi-Kyere spoke not only of a fallen serviceman but of a soulmate. She recalled meeting Manaen on his birthday in 2022 and building a relationship marked by laughter, shared dreams, and an unshakable bond.
“People always commented that you loved me too much,” she said softly, “but only you and I know the depth of what we had and shared.”
Her words painted a picture of a man whose quiet strength, kindness, and constant smile left an imprint on all who knew him. The grief was palpable as she voiced the questions that have no answers: “What do I do without you, and how do I carry on alone from here?”
In her closing, she sent him a coded farewell in the phonetic alphabet — a nod to the military life they both lived — before promising to keep his story alive for the world to know.
The tribute was one of many poignant moments at the ceremony, where Ghana’s leaders, security services, and grieving families came together to honour those lost. But for Awura Adjoa Kumi-Kyere, it was above all a farewell to her “best friend, lover, and correct better half,” whose memory she vowed to carry for “forever and a day.”
