By: Akua Oteng Amponsah
The government has revealed a detailed plan for the state funeral of the victims of the August 6 helicopter crash, scheduled for Friday, August 15.
According to Deputy Chief of Staff Stan Dogbey, the ceremony will be a dignified military service conducted by the Ghana Armed Forces.
“The service would largely be a military service, it would be conducted by the Ghana Armed Forces and there will be three parts to the funeral programme,” he said.
The funeral program will comprise a pre-burial service, a main funeral and burial service, and tributes from colleagues, family members, and government officials.
The pre-burial service will start at 7:30 am and will include tributes from colleagues, parents, siblings, and children of the deceased.
“We would have the three burial service during which period some tributes would be read, we would have Qu’ran recitations during that period,” Mr. Dogbey explained.
The main funeral service will follow, with the Vice President expected to arrive at 8:50 am and the President at 9:00 am.
“The service is programmed to last for approximately three hours during which period we would take the biographies of the departed eight, colleagues, parents, siblings,” Mr. Dogbey said.
To accommodate the large number of mourners, the government has set up designated seating areas and will deploy security personnel to ensure a smooth and safe ceremony.
“Because of the rather large number of people that will be expected tomorrow, a number of measures have been taken to ensure that we have a very solemn ceremony,” Mr. Dogbey said.
“We entreat the public who would want to join us for the service to arrive early and collaborate with the protocol and security officials on ground to assist them to sit,” he added. “We do not expect people to be crisscrossing the inner perimeter before and during the service.”
The government has also made arrangements for transporting mourners to the cemetery and has put in place measures to manage traffic and ensure the safety of all attendees.
“For the cemetery, arrangements have been made to provide buses to convey the families that would be heading to the military cemetery,” Mr. Dogbey explained.
Accreditation has been issued to certain journalists, and only accredited camera holders and photographers will be allowed in the inner perimeter.
“Media houses and journalists that applied and have been accordingly accredited are the only ones that will be allowed in the inner perimeter, which is designated as the special media zone for the service,” Mr. Dogbey said.
