Asiedu Nketiah reveals how last-minute change of plans saved him
Accra, Friday, August 8, 2025 — National Democratic Congress (NDC) Chairman Johnson Asiedu Nketiah has revealed he was originally scheduled to be on the military helicopter that crashed in the Ashanti Region on Wednesday, August 6, killing eight people, including two government ministers.
The aircraft went down in the Adansi area en route to Obuasi, claiming the lives of Defence Minister Dr. Edward Kofi Omane Boamah, Minister for Environment, Science and Technology Dr. Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed, NDC Vice Chairman Dr. Samuel Sarpong, and five others.
Mr. Nketiah said a late change of plans kept him off the flight. Instead, Dr. Sarpong was assigned to represent the NDC at the launch of the Responsible Co-operative Mining and Skills Development Programme (COMSDEP).
“Allah does what he wants. I was supposed to be on the flight, and last minute, I directed my vice chairman, Dr. Sarpong, to go and stand in for the party, and he accepted it,” he said during a condolence visit to one of the bereaved families.
He urged relatives of the deceased to lean on faith during this period of grief, calling the tragedy a stark reminder of life’s unpredictability.
“In your human ways, you may be thinking that if I had not sent Sarpong, maybe he would be living. But who knows? God might have decided that if this is his time, he will be knocked down by a trotro in Accra. So, we don’t question what Allah wants to do.”
Mr. Asiedu Nketiah concluded that while the loss is devastating, perspective is essential:
“If it didn’t happen, something worse might have happened.”
The crash has shaken Ghana, prompting national mourning and tributes from across the political spectrum. State funeral arrangements for the victims are scheduled to begin next week.
