Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama has named two senior Cabinet members to fill key portfolios left vacant by Wednesday’s helicopter disaster that killed eight people, including Defence Minister Edward Omane Boamah and Environment Minister Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed.
Finance Minister Cassiel Ato Forson will double as acting Defence Minister, while Lands and Natural Resources Minister Emmanuel Kofi Armah Buah will serve concurrently as acting Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister, the Presidency announced Thursday. Both officials retain their original posts “until further notice.”
The appointments follow the crash of an Air Force Z-9 helicopter that disappeared from radar shortly after departing Accra for Obuasi. Military officials later confirmed the aircraft went down in Ghana’s Ashanti Region, leaving no survivors.
President Mahama has:
- Ordered flags flown at half-mast nationwide.
- Declared three days of national mourning.
- Suspended all official presidential engagements for the remainder of the week.
Investigators are probing the cause of the crash. Regional leaders, the African Union and the United Nations have offered condolences. According to presidential aides, Mahama narrowly avoided the flight after delegating the ministers to represent him at a mining-sector event and instead attending a clergy retreat in the Central Region.
The interim appointments are intended to keep defence operations and environmental policy on track while the government assesses next steps amid the tragedy.
