FLASHBACK: How a military aircraft was secured within 24-hours to transport Sir John’s body to Wonoo
Sir John died on June 1, 2020
On the death of the former Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission of Ghana, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, popularly known as Sir John, one of his closest aides made some revelations about how he got his body to the Ashanti Region.
Read full articleCharles Owusu explained in a radio interview that when it was time to transport the corpse of his late boss, he reconsidered the use of road because of the stress involved.
He added that he made a few arrangements in time to secure a helicopter that flew the body straight to Sakora Wonoo in the Ashanti Region.
“Just a day to the funeral I called the Major General Thomas Oppong-Peprah, that I needed help to transport the body of his brother (Sir John) home. He asked me to come home and within a minute we concluded everything. No one knew about it, even the people I was to go to Wonoo with were not aware we were going to fly the body.
“I made the arrangements and after when they came I informed them that we are going by air so they should inform the family so that they prepare for us. We flew the body straight from Accra to Wonoo so I want to express my gratitude to the pilot for the help,” he said.
Read the full details of the story which was first published by GhanaWeb on tuesdaym June 8, 2021:
Charles Owusu, the Director of Special Duties at Forestry Commission, has detailed how he managed to secure a military aircraft to convey the body of the late Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie from Accra to Sakora Wonoo in the Ashanti Region.
Charles Owusu in an Okay FM interview monitored by GhanaWeb disclosed that the initial plan was to transport the body via road but he got a last-minute change of mind after thinking of the stress involved in travelling by road.
He quickly got in contact with the Chief of Army Staff who invited him over for deliberations on the matter.
Charles Owusu said the discussions were successful and then an order was given for the flying of the body with a military aircraft from Accra to Wonoo on the morning of the burial.’
He expressed gratitude to the army chief and other personnel of the Ghana Armed Forces who took charge of transporting the body of Sir John.
“Just a day to the funeral I called the Major General Thomas Oppong-Peprah, that I needed help to transport the body of his brother (Sir John) home. He asked me to come home and within a minute we concluded everything. No one knew about it, even the people I was to go to Wonoo with were not aware we were going to fly the body.
“I made the arrangements and after when they came I informed them that we are going by air so they should inform the family so that they prepare for us. We flew the body straight from Accra to Wonoo so I want to express my gratitude to the pilot for the help.”
Charles Owusu also defended the building of a plush tomb for the former General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party.
He also denied suggestions that the resting place was funded by the government. He insisted that the decision to build the tomb was solely his.
“I have heard that we’ve built a house for Sir John and some don’t understand. If I could build a storey building for Sir John I would have built it. It is not my duty to build classroom but its my duty to find a good place of rest for Sir John. I built the tomb, it was not sponsored by the government. No government official knows how we built it,” he stressed.
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