Mahama Inaugurates ICT and AI Centre Named After Late Defence Minister Omane Boamah

President John Dramani Mahama on Saturday inaugurated an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) centre that has been renamed after the late Defence Minister, Dr Edward Kofi Omane Boamah. The ceremony brought together government officials, traditional leaders, family members of the deceased, and community residents for the formal unveiling of the facility and the dedication of a commemorative bust in his memory.

Dr Omane Boamah, a physician, politician, and long-serving member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), died on August 6, 2025, when a Ghana Armed Forces Z-9 helicopter crashed near Adansi Akrofuom in the Ashanti Region. He was travelling to Obuasi for an anti-illegal mining operation when the aircraft went down, killing all eight people on board. During his seven-month tenure as Defence Minister under President Mahama's second term, Dr Omane Boamah established himself as a dedicated public servant committed to Ghana's security and development.

The renaming of the centre reflects the government's wider effort to honour Dr Omane Boamah's substantial legacy in public service and technology advancement. Prior to his final appointment as Defence Minister, he served as Minister for Communications between 2013 and 2017, a period during which he championed child online protection, oversaw the rollout of Ghana's 4G network, and pushed for broader digital access across communities. His most notable achievement during this period was chairing the Better Ghana ICT Project, which distributed approximately 100,000 laptop computers to students and schools nationwide, significantly advancing digital literacy across the nation.

Saturday's inauguration follows a series of posthumous tributes honouring Dr Omane Boamah's contributions to Ghana's development. In January 2026, the Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, cut the sod for a new ICT and science laboratory at Pope John Senior High School and Seminary in Koforidua, also named in Dr Omane Boamah's honour. That facility, funded through the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund), was tied to a pledge Dr Omane Boamah had made to the school before his untimely death.

The renaming of the ICT and AI centre comes at a significant moment for Ghana's digital agenda. The Cabinet approved a $250 million investment to establish a national AI compute centre in late March 2026, signalling the government's commitment to positioning Ghana as a technology hub in West Africa. Furthermore, Ghana's National AI Strategy is set to be officially launched by President Mahama on April 24, 2026, representing a transformative milestone for the nation's digital future. These initiatives align with the vision that Dr Omane Boamah worked tirelessly to advance throughout his career in government.