President of IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe, has criticised the former Akufo-Addo administration in the wake of the 6 August helicopter crash which claimed eight lives, including two cabinet ministers.

The victims — Defence Minister Dr Edward Omane Boamah, Environment Minister Dr Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, and six others, among them military personnel — were travelling to Obuasi for the launch of the Responsible Co-operative Mining and Skills Development Programme (COMSDEP) when tragedy struck. 

The initiative had been designed to tackle illegal mining, yet the aircraft went down in the Adansi Akrofuom District of the Ashanti Region before it could reach its destination.

Speaking to Channel One TV on Saturday, August 10, Mr Cudjoe offered his condolences to the bereaved families and the nation, but also laid blame on the previous government’s long-standing failure to address the scourge of illegal mining. 

He argued that decisive measures taken over the past five to seven years could have prevented the circumstances leading to the fatal incident.

“It’s hard, it’s really hard, it’s painful. I will commiserate with the families and the rest of the country,” he said. 

“It’s important that people do not remind us of the pain, especially some of the commentaries regarding this whole menace of galamsey. It’s quite interesting that we are making it look as though something should be shared politically. I think that if something significant had been done about it, probably in the last five, six or seven years, we wouldn’t be here.”