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Hamza Suhuyini Sayibu, a member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Communications Team, has criticised the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) over its response to the tragic military helicopter crash.
According to Hamza Suhuyini Sayibu, he never thought he would witness that level of inefficiency from the Ghana Armed Forces.
Speaking on TV3 New Day on Tuesday, August 12, 2025, Hamza Suhuyini stated, “I am in pain. I have struggled because of this, and the pain is yet to leave my chest. I was thinking that the grief that has engulfed our state institutions, excluded the military due to their conduct”.
“For hours, after the Ghana military issued a statement about the missing helicopter and the news about the discovery, it had to take civilians to be seen actively on the site of the crash, trying to salvage the situation,” he added.
“They could not dignify their gallant service by even taking charge of the remains of our fallen heroes and conducting it as a military duty. What I witnessed, I never thought in my lifetime I would have witnessed that level of inefficiency,” he stated.
Hamza Suhuyini Sayibu further questioned, “There is a military base in Kumasi. Where was our military? The defence minister of Ghana?”
“It is not just about the death of these people. It also sends a signal internationally about the reputation of the Ghana Army. This conduct has exposed the country badly,” he said.
Also, Bright Simons the IMANI Africa’s Honorary Vice President, has questioned whether the Ghana Armed Forces are trained to operate in the forest following the August 6 tragic military helicopter crash.
According to Brigt Simons, how do Ghanaians expect the military to respond if they are not trained to operate in difficult forest terrain?
He noted that there are global standards that exist for such operations, and Ghana must follow them.
Brigt Simons boldly emphasised that the Authorities, citing the challenging forest terrain as their delay in responding following the tragic incident, is not acceptable.
Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express on Monday, August 12, Bright Simons detailed, “You have to start by saying, what are the rules that are established globally in this country? And I’m saying that for a search and rescue operation, there are response times. There are designated first responders.
“There are rules around trying to make sure you have site containment. There are rules around trying to preserve evidence, preventing unauthorised access. These are all rules that we all saw on TV that were not met.”
He added, using situations in Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, and Benin as examples, “Now, the argument is that the terrain was difficult. My response to that is that, of course, the terrain was difficult. Some of the training that the Armed Forces received, or members of the Armed Forces received, is specifically in difficult terrain, because we know, for instance, that in Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, in Benin and some of these countries, we’ve seen that bad actors tend to use a masking to prevent easy response.”
“So in Nigeria, the case with a famous Sambisa forest matter, that is where they were hiding in the forest, if you don’t train your soldiers so they can go into the forest and respond to a situation, then how are you going to do that?”, he added.
Bright Simons reiterated, “So when we say that, you know, because the place was a forest area, but I beg to differ, I think that we have soldiers that, if that situation were an insurgency, for instance, we would expect that they respond quicker.”
However, the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) has urged the media to exercise restraint and accuracy in their commentary on the recent Air Force Z-9 helicopter crash in the Ashanti Region.
GAF is calling on media practitioners, commentators, bloggers, and content creators not to draw conclusions based on opinion, perceptions.
According to GAF, premature conclusions risk misleading the public, but also deepen the pain of the bereaved families.
Captain VA Arhin, Acting Director General of Public Relations, in a statement wrote, “For the sake of the bereaved families and loved ones, the Armed Forces urge media practitioners, panelists, social commentators, bloggers, and content creators to be circumspect in their reportage as a way of according respect to the memories of the fallen heroes and to mitigate the sorrows of the bereaved families”.
“At this point in time, any purported conclusions based on opinion, perceptions, and conjectures will be premature and misleading. The public is therefore advised to be wary of such reportage,” the statement emphasised.
The statement concluded, “May the souls of our patriots continue to rest in peace”.