Hot SourceBy Hon Haruna Iddrisu, Minister for Education
With a heart heavy with grief, I mourn a friend, a brother, and a national treasure—Dr Edward Kofi Omane Boamah.
On Wednesday, August 6, 2025—Ghana’s Black Wednesday—we lost eight gallant souls in a tragic Ghana Air Force helicopter crash near Sikaman in the Ashanti Region. Among them was our Defence Minister, my brother in service, Omane Boamah.
They were en route to Obuasi for the launch of the Responsible Cooperative Mining and Skills Development Programme, rCOMSDEP—a crucial initiative in our fight against illegal mining.
Omane was not scheduled to be on that flight. Fate, in its cruelest form, intervened. And we are left to ask: why must the best among us fall so suddenly?
From his early activism with the Committee for Joint Action to his leadership as Minister of Defence, Omane served Ghana with unmatched integrity and intellect. He was a thinker, a strategist, and a patriot.
He was instrumental in our party’s 2024 electoral victory, directing elections and IT operations with tireless devotion. For him, it was never about position—it was about purpose.
Our bond stretched back decades, from student activism to Cabinet. He was my junior, my confidant, and at times, the only one who could calm my fiery spirit.
In 2013, he succeeded me as Minister for Communications, having earlier served as Deputy Minister for Youth and Sports, and for Environment, Science and Technology. He wore every role with humility and excellence.
He had already told me and Rita he had no intention of joining President Mahama’s second administration—except to support its success from the background. But the President, recognizing his worth, called him back to lead Defence.
It is painful that the Minister of Defence found no defence, and the doctor had no chance for emergency care. But who are we to question the will of the Almighty?
He died in service—on a mission to save our environment. His blood must not be shed in vain. May it purify our rivers and heal our land from the scourge of galamsey.
I have visited Rita and the family. There are no words to ease their pain. But know this: Ghana mourns with you. We all do.
His leadership, brilliance, and humanity leave a lasting imprint. His sacrifice must awaken in us a deeper commitment to duty, truth, and justice.
To me, Omane was more than a colleague—he was family. “Leave Haruna to me,” he would say, whenever others couldn’t handle me. And he always did.
As we lay him to rest, I echo the timeless lines of the Armed Forces for their fallen:
“At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember him.”
Farewell, my brother, Dr Edward Omane Boamah—Defence Minister of the Republic of Ghana, January to August 2025. Your mission continues, even in death.
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