The Director of Legal Affairs for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Godwin Edudzi Kudzo Tamaklo, has dismissed suggestions that the Air Force personnel who died in the August 6, 2025, helicopter crash were inexperienced.

In a statement, Mr. Tamaklo stressed that none of the three Ghana Air Force officers on board had fewer than five years of service.

He clarified that the Flying Officer, contrary to claims of being a recent graduate, was commissioned in 2021 and had over five years of flying experience.

He further detailed that Squadron Leader Peter Bafemi Anala was commissioned on October 17, 2013, with 13 years of service, while Flight Sergeant Ernest Addo was commissioned in 2012, amassing 14 years of engineering experience.

“For context,” he explained, “a Squadron Leader ranks above a Flight Lieutenant and below a Wing Commander, while a Flying Officer ranks above a Pilot Officer and below a Flight Lieutenant.

It is, therefore, incorrect to suggest that the chopper was left in the hands of amateurs.”

Mr. Tamaklo called for sensitivity and respect toward the families of the fallen officers, describing them as gallant men who risked everything in service to the country.

Commentator Charles MacCarthy, weighing in on the matter, described such inexperience claims as “greatly unfair” to the memory of the officers, noting Squadron Leader Anala’s credentials as one of Ghana’s top experts in aircraft crash investigations.

“If he were a lawyer,” McCarthy remarked, “he would be qualified to be a High Court judge.”