{"id":89151,"date":"2025-08-11T05:06:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T05:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=89151"},"modified":"2025-08-11T05:06:00","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T05:06:00","slug":"god-didnt-take-them-we-gave-them-through-avoidable-death-dr-tony-aidoo-on-helicopter-tragedy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=89151","title":{"rendered":"God didn\u2019t take them, we gave them through avoidable death \u2013 Dr Tony Aidoo on helicopter tragedy"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>1 Minute, 44 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
\n

Former Senior Presidential Aide and ambassador to the Netherlands, Dr Tony Aidoo, says the helicopter crash that claimed the lives of two cabinet ministers and six others was an avoidable national tragedy, not an act of God.<\/p>\n

Speaking on Newsfile<\/em> on Saturday, August 9, Dr Aidoo dismissed the popular sentiment that \u201cthe Lord gave and the Lord takes,\u201d insisting, \u201cGod did not take, it was we who gave by our mistake of an avoidable death.\u201d<\/p>\n

The crash killed Defence Minister Dr Edward Omane Boamah, former parliamentary candidate Samuel Aboagye, NDC Vice Chairman Dr Samuel Sarpong, and three crew members \u2014 Squadron Leader Peter Bafemi Anala, Flying Officer Manin Twum-Ampadu, and Sergeant Ernest Addo Mensah \u2014 as they travelled to the launch of a government initiative to end illegal mining.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be frank, I had a personal connection with only three of the unfortunate victims \u2014 Dr Omane Boamah, Dr Sarpong and Dr Murtala Mohammed,\u201d Dr Aidoo said. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnytime I remember the departed, usually with teary eyes, but I am not here to eulogise. Mine will be a tiny voice among the worldwide tributes, lamentations and eulogies that have come following this avoidable national tragedy.\u201d<\/p>\n

He stressed the need to look beyond mourning to uncover the cause of the deaths. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhy did they die? Why were they in the air? They were in the air because they were going to fight galamsey. President Mahama must kill the galamsey menace before it ends his members [of cabinet].\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr Aidoo argued that the best way to honour the victims is to act decisively against illegal mining. <\/p>\n

\u201cGod gives, yes, but God does not take innocent lives. People die by their own destruction or by lifestyle. My first reaction after the Chief of Staff confirmed the death was to send a message directly to President Mahama, and I said these eight patriotic souls lost their lives in the fight against galamsey. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo for God\u2019s sake, Mr President, don\u2019t let them die in vain. Stop the galamsey now. That\u2019s the best tribute we can say to these patriotic deaths.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n \n
\n \n \"Happy\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Happy <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n \n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Sad\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Sad <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Excited\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Excited <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Sleepy\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Sleepy <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n \n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Angry\"\n <\/a>\n
Angry<\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Surprise\"\n <\/a>\n
Surprise<\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\"GodFormer Senior Presidential Aide and ambassador to the Netherlands, Dr Tony Aidoo, says the helicopter crash that claimed the lives of two cabinet ministers and six others was an avoidable national tragedy, not an act of God.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6278,5955,1883,10,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-89151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dr-tony-aidoo","category-helicopter-crash","category-national","category-politics","category-popular"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=89151"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89151\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=89151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=89151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=89151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}