President John Dramani Mahama has requested American experts to help study and analyse the black box retrieved from the military helicopter crash that claimed eight lives last week, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has said.

The Minister confirmed that the government had formally written to the Americans to come and assist with the investigation as independent officers, to avoid any suspicion.

According to the Minister, the American experts would soon arrive in the country, having already received the government’s letter and responded.

“I can confirm to you that, on the instruction of His Excellency President John Dramani Mahama, we have formally requested the Americans to come in and assist.

“We all know that they have considerable expertise when it comes to these matters. So, the indication we have received from the Americans is that they are very much willing to assist. The Americans have responded, and we are expecting the arrival of American experts soon to help us with the investigations,” he said.

He emphasised that the government believed bringing in independent experts would ensure the outcome of the investigations was acceptable to all and inspire confidence in the process.

Mr Ablakwa added that nobody had anything to hide, stressing that it was important the process was carried out thoroughly and met international gold standards and best practice.

Contact with Chinese manufacturers

The Minister said the government had also made contact with the Chinese manufacturers, who are on standby to assist with the investigation.

“I can confirm to you that the Chinese have already been contacted and the manufacturers are standing by. Indeed, the briefing we have received from the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) is that there is a standing protocol where the black box must be, as it were, made available to the manufacturer, in this case, the manufacturers of the Z9 helicopter.

“So, they are standing by. But, in the President’s wisdom, he does not want anything to proceed without independent experts. I think that it is quite fair so that we will just avoid all doubts, so that people will not raise issues of probably conflict of interest — maybe people with some kind of special interest trying to cover up and all of that,” he stated.

The Minister said the President’s decision was commendable, as the Americans were far removed from the process and could provide the independent expertise required.

He also expressed gratitude to American partners for agreeing to assist the government.

Transparency

The Minister said the President wanted utmost transparency and assured that Ghanaians would be kept informed at every stage of the investigation.

“At all steps of the way, when these experts arrive, when the investigations commence, when the investigations progress, when the investigations conclude, every stage of the way the Ghanaian people should know about what is happening,” he said.

He assured the public that the government would not conceal any development related to the investigation.

“I have had some civil society organisations and some other analysts raise concern about, if you like, lack of information about the investigative processes. It is just because it hasn’t commenced.

“We are waiting for the experts before these investigations are done. That is why you probably have not been getting regular updates on the investigation, of course, taking into account national security considerations,” he said.

He emphasised that most of the heroes who died represented good governance, which required transparency, accountability, and a strong commitment to truth.

Mr Ablakwa said it was in the country’s interest to honour the crash victims “by making sure that even as they are no longer with us, these ideals which they have always represented, which they stand for, must continue to be espoused and actually advanced in a very concrete manner”.