Ghana's ministers of defence and environment died in a military helicopter crash on August 6 in the central Ashanti region, along with six other people, as they travelled to an event related to the ongoing battle against widespread illegal gold mining.

Julius Debrah, the presidential chief of staff, described as a "national tragedy" the crash of the Z-9 military helicopter that took the lives of Defence Minister Edward Omane Boamah and Environment, Science and Technology Minister Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, along with deputy national security coordinator Alhaji Muniru Muhammed and governing National Democratic Congress party vice-chairman Samuel Sarpong.

“The president and the government extend their condolences and solidarity to the families of our comrades and soldiers who fell in their service to the nation,” Debrah told a news conference as reported by Joy News. The cause of the crash has yet to be confirmed.

Boamah, a medical doctor by training, served in multiple roles under President Jon Mahama’s administration, including as communications minister and deputy environment minister during Mahama’s first term from 2012 to 2017. He was also known for his diplomatic efforts in the increasingly unstable West African Sahel region.

At the time of his death, Boamah was steering Ghana’s defence policy as armed groups across the northern border in Burkina Faso had grown increasingly active. Although Ghana has largely avoided the insurgency spillover that has affected neighbours such as Togo and Benin, analysts have warned of mounting arms trafficking and possible rebel infiltration.

In May, Boamah led a high-level delegation to Burkina Faso for talks amid rising regional tensions. Ghana has sought to maintain open diplomatic channels with military-led regimes in Ouagadougou, Bamako and Niamey, despite their withdrawal from the ECOWAS regional bloc. Boamah was also preparing to release a book titled A Peaceful Man in an African Democracy, a tribute to Ghana’s late President John Atta Mills, who died in office in 2012

Mohammed, meanwhile, was spearheading the national battle against illegal gold mining, known locally as “galamsey”, which has deprived the state of revenue, polluted waterways, and destroyed agricultural land where the country’s other cash crop, cocoa, is cultivated.

The Ghana Armed Forces said eight bodies have been retrieved from the wreckage and transferred to Accra in a military plane.

President John Dramani Mahama suspended his scheduled activities for the week, directed the country's flags to fly at half-mast, and declared three days of mourning starting from Thursday.

In July, Mahama inaugurated a special task force aimed at clamping down on illegal gold mining and smuggling, warning offenders that the law will be enforced “without fear or favour”.

Environmental degradation, river pollution, and the displacement of communities have become defining features of the illegal gold rush, sparking nationwide protests and turning the issue into a central theme during last year’s tightly contested presidential election.

Ghana, the world’s sixth-largest gold producer, has long struggled with the informal mining sector, which draws thousands of unemployed youth but often operates outside environmental and safety regulations. Despite crackdowns under previous administrations, illegal gold mining continues to flourish, feeding into a shadow economy that evades state oversight and taxation.