BY Grace Zigah
In the final minutes before the helicopter he was travelling in crashed in the Sikaman Forest of the Ashanti Region, former parliamentary candidate for Obuasi East, Samuel Aboagye made a poignant request — for his car to be brought to him.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA), Richard Ofori Agyemang Boadi, who has broken his silence on the tragedy, revealed that Aboagye was in constant telephone contact with the Obuasi Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) as the helicopter struggled to land.
According to Boadi also known as King Zuba, the Z-9 military helicopter, carrying a delegation of senior government officials, encountered poor weather conditions that thwarted three separate landing attempts — twice at the Obuasi airstrip and once at the Ofori Stadium.
“Samuel Aboagye told them to bring his car to the airstrip in Obuasi. When they could not land there, he told them to rather bring the car to Oforikrom,” Boadi recounted in an interview on Kumasi’s Akoma FM.
Tragically, these words would be among Samuel Aboagye’s last before the helicopter went down on Wednesday, August 6, 2025.
Mission Interrupted
Aboagye and seven others, including Defence Minister Dr. Edward Omane Boamah and Environment Minister Dr. Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, were on their to the launch of the Responsible Cooperative Mining and Skills Development Programme (rCOMSDEP) in Obuasi.
Recovery Under Harsh Conditions
The crash site, deep within the Adansi South District’s Sikaman Forest, was difficult to reach. Boadi defended the rescue teams after public criticism over the use of sacks instead of standard body bags to transport the victims’ remains.
He explained that body bags had been taken to the scene, but some melted due to the intense heat from the wreckage.
With no vehicle access to the forest and helicopters unable to land, the team resorted to sacks as a last option to preserve the bodies.
Call for Compassion
He commended Adansi Akrofuom DCE Gariba for leading the recovery effort and urged the public to show empathy to the victims’ families.
“This is not the time for mockery or insensitive remarks,” he said.
