The widow of the late Sergeant Ernest Addo Mensah, one of the eight victims of the August 6 military helicopter crash in the Ashanti Region, delivered a heartbreaking tribute at the interdenominational state funeral held on Friday, August 15.
Having been married for just a month, she recalled her final conversation with her husband on the morning of the tragedy.
“Mankyɛ, it has been days, and you have not called at 5 a.m. for us to pray,” she said tearfully. “On that Wednesday morning, I called you and told you I woke up feeling very sad, and I didn’t know why. Immediately, your first solution to everything was what you suggested. We prayed, and you said you had your flight to Obuasi and you would be back. I am still waiting. I don’t know how long I will wait, but I will still wait.”
She found solace in her faith, declaring: “Shame on you, death, you have not won. Christ has, because Ernest died knowing Him as his Lord and Saviour. You will forever be my hero, forever in my thoughts, never to die.”
Sergeant Mensah lost his life alongside Dr. Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation; NDC Vice Chairman Samuel Sarpong; former Obuasi East parliamentary candidate Samuel Aboagye; and Acting Deputy National Security Coordinator Alhaji Limuna Muniru Mohammed.
Three Air Force crew members — Squadron Leader Peter Bafemi Anala, Flying Officer Manin Twum-Ampadu, and Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, Minister for Defence — also perished in the crash.
