President John Dramani Mahama has called on Ghanaians to rally around the children of the eight victims of the August 6 military helicopter crash, pledging both state and public support to secure their education, health, and welfare.
Speaking at the solemn state funeral at the Black Star Square on Friday, the President announced the creation of the Children’s Support Fund, designed to ensure that no child left behind by the tragedy faces life without proper care and opportunity.
The fund will provide full coverage for education from primary to tertiary or technical training, medical care including health insurance and specialised treatment, and essential welfare needs such as shelter, clothing, and basic living expenses.
“These children should not become collateral damage of this tragedy,” President Mahama said. “This must be a new moment to renew our culture of collective responsibility and secure their lives.”
He reminded the nation of Ghana’s deep tradition of communal care, where relatives and even strangers take responsibility for children in need — from paying a neighbour’s school fees to covering the hospital bills of someone they may never meet again.
To illustrate this, he recalled how the late Defence Minister, Dr Edward Omane Boamah, was himself a man of compassion, and shared his own personal experience of supporting a nine-year-old physically disabled boy, paying for surgery and even penning a poem to encourage the child before the procedure.
“Let us leave our eight comrades with the promise that their children will never walk alone,” Mahama said. “We will be there to share in their lives, walk into their future, and be a part of their journey.”
The President also expressed gratitude to the diplomatic community, citizens, and well-wishers who joined the nation in mourning, saying their solidarity demonstrated the strength of Ghana’s spirit both locally and internationally.
Acknowledging that no investigation or technical explanation will ever make sense to grieving hearts, Mahama urged the nation to channel its pain into unity and progress. “I pray that this funeral will bring closure to a grieving nation, and that the Almighty God will heal our land,” he said.
The eight individuals — including Dr Omane Boamah, Minister of Defence; Dr Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed, Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation; and Acting Deputy National Security Coordinator Alhaji Muniru Mohammed — lost their lives when their military helicopter crashed in Sikaman, Adansi Akrofuom District, while en route to Obuasi for the launch of the Responsible Cooperative Mining and Skills Development Programme.
They were laid to rest with full state honours at the Military Cemetery at Tse-Addo in Accra.
