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Christian Atsu’s partner ‘hopes his name will never go away’ after losing life in Turkey earthquakes
Christian Atsu’s partner Marie-Claire Rupio says she “hopes his name will never go away”, six months after his tragic death.
In an exclusive interview with BBC Radio 5 Live, Rupio has spoken about the former Newcastle United and Ghana midfielder, who lost his life in the earthquakes that devastated parts of Turkey and Syria.
The earthquakes claimed more than 50,000 lives with Atsu, 31, found dead under the rubble of his home in Antakya on 18 February, almost two weeks after the quakes.
He and Rupio had three children together, aged nine, six and three at the time of his loss.
“For me, it’s very important that his name is still there, especially for the children, that he was known, that he was loved by everybody,” she says.
“I just hope that his name will never go away.”
Speaking to the media for the first time since his passing, Rubio describes the confusion over whether Atsu was safe, hearing about developments on the radio and the impact his death has had on her and their children.
‘I was shocked, it was hard to believe’Atsu was in Turkey having signed for Hatayspor last September, while his family remained in Newcastle.
Rupio last spoke with him on Saturday, 4 February, and because his team were playing Kasimpasa the next day, he planned to speak with her again on the Monday.
Atsu scored the game’s only goal in stoppage time and his wife messaged to congratulate him. His reply to thank her would be the last contact they had.
“I didn’t believe that it could happen in a place [where] he would be,” she said. “As a human being, you think this can’t happen to you or anybody you love.
“I was like ‘he’s fine and he will call’. But then after a while his sister called and told me that his building had totally collapsed. I was shocked, it was hard to believe.”
Subsequent news reports created confusion over what had happened with Atsu, who made 121 appearances for Newcastle between 2016 and 2021.
On 7 February his club’s vice-president said he had been “removed from the wreckage with injuries”.
However, the following day his agent Nana Sechere said that his whereabouts were yet to be confirmed.
Rupio then told BBC News she believed her husband was still alive and appealed for more equipment to clear the rubble.
“I didn’t really read any news,” said Rupio. “I relied on his agent, Nana, and his sister.
“Our children heard from their school that he has been found and then they came home and heard on the radio again that he hasn’t been found. It wasn’t nice, but I told them he might be found because you still want to believe [in] the positive outcome.”
Being ‘the rock’ for their children
Christian Atsu was known as ‘father’ by some of the children he supported in his native GhanaSechere was in the Hatay province to monitor the search for Atsu and later confirmed he had been found dead, after calling Rupio in the early hours of the morning to inform her.
“I couldn’t really cry because I was in shock,” she said. “I didn’t want to believe [it was true]. I think my body just shut down.“The next morning the children had football and I didn’t want to take that from them. After [that] I had to sit them down and explain it to them.
“It’s not easy. It’s not something you would wish on anybody.”
The pair met while Atsu was playing for Porto and he earned a move to Chelsea in 2013, although he did not make a first-team appearance for the Blues.
He had loan spells with Everton and Bournemouth before joining Newcastle, who Rupio said have “helped me in every single way they could help”, for which she is “very grateful”.
She added that the Professional Footballers’ Association have helped her find a therapist while her eldest son has had counselling at his school.
Rupio said that “he is the main one who is struggling because he has more memories” and is “not really ready to talk about it”.
Her younger son has talked about his father more and has been asking questions that “sometimes are very hard to answer”.
Their daughter recently turned four and on her birthday “she asked when her dad is calling”. “You have to be strong,” she added. “You’re allowed to show emotions, obviously, but you can’t fall down. “You have to be the rock now for everybody.
I do break down a lot of times, so it’s not easy to balance everything.” ‘He wasn’t just talented, he’s been a good person as well’
Atsu made his international debut in 2012 and went on to win 65 caps for Ghana, helping the Black Stars reach the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations final.
Ghana’s all-time record goalscorer Asamoah Gyan was among the many to pay tribute to his former team-mate, and he is remembered for what he did off the field as much as he did on it.
Atsu supported an orphanage called Becky’s Foundation, helping to turn a children’s home in the Ghanaian coastal town of Senya Beraku into a school, and he was also a regular visitor, with some of the children calling him “father”.
A traditional week-long period of mourning was held after his body was returned to Ghana and he was honoured with a state funeral in the capital Accra, with Ghana’s president among hundreds of people who paid their last respects.
“He helped a lot of charities, even in the UK,” said his widow.
“He’s helped a lot of people in Ghana.
You can’t really talk just about [his] talent, he’s been a good person as well. “
The people who are close do know that, even from the outside as well, they have seen it.
“He’s built a school for children in Ghana and that’s something that not everybody would do, if they have money.”
Credit: BBC.com
President John Dramani Mahama has commissioned four career diplomats as ambassador-designates to represent Ghana in four countries.
The commissioning ceremony took place on Friday, October 16, 2026.
The new envoys are Her Excellency Nana Antwiwaa Dodoo, Ambassador-Designate to Angola; His Excellency Louis Kwame Obeng, Ambassador-Designate to Qatar; Her Excellency Evelyn Korantemaa Ofosu-Amable, Ambassador-Designate to Israel; and His Excellency Jedidiah Reuben Adogla, Permanent Representative-Designate to Switzerland.
President Mahama charged them to advance Ghana’s national interests through strategic partnerships, economic diplomacy, investment mobilization, and expanded access to international markets.
He said Ghana’s diplomatic engagements must deliver tangible economic benefits, create jobs, and strengthen the country’s standing on the international stage.
The four envoys are career diplomats with over 27 years of experience.
On behalf of her colleagues, Her Excellency Nana Antwiwaa Dodoo thanked the President for the confidence reposed in them and pledged their commitment to emulate his leadership and deliver on the mandate given to them.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
The professor who spends his days exploring the intricacies of African languages found himself at the centre of a different kind of lesson on Friday, October 2, 2026. 
This time, there were no lecture notes, academic arguments or university classrooms. Instead, there was the weight of tradition, the rhythm of a community celebration and the solemnity of an oath at a royal palace.
Professor Ọbádélé Kambon, a full Professor of African Linguistics at the University of Ghana, was enstooled as Apagyahene and Sunsum Ɔsahene of Akuapem Mampong in the Eastern Region in a ceremony that brought academia and traditional authority together.
For the professor, the occasion was more than a new title. It was a moment that connected his academic interests in African languages and indigenous knowledge with the living traditions of an Akan community.
The day’s events unfolded through a series of customary observances. Kambon was first taken to the compounds of the Ɔkyeamehene and Gyasehene, where the preparations for his installation continued.
Then came the application of hyire, the white kaolin powder associated with traditional rites.
With the customary proceedings underway, the new chief was lifted onto the shoulders of celebrants and carried along the main thoroughfare of Akuapem Mampong.
The procession transformed the streets into a public stage for a ceremony rooted in the community’s traditional institutions.
There was something striking about the image, a university professor, accustomed to the measured language of academic discourse, being carried through the town in a display of traditional recognition.
Yet the celebration was not complete with the procession.
A ram was sacrificed at the Mamponghene’s compound before Kambon was taken to the palace, to swear the oath associated with his new offices.
The ceremony brought him formally into his roles as Apagyahene and Sunsum Ɔsahene.
Beyond the colourful proceedings, the titles themselves carry layers of historical meaning.
Kambon in his research explores the historical connections between Apagya and Akan political and military organisation.
Accounts cited in his work linked Apagya to an asafo, or military company, while historical writing traces an Apagya stool in Asante to the reign of Opoku Ware I in the eighteenth century.
These historical associations offer a glimpse into the institutions that have shaped Akan society over generations, although they do not automatically define the precise responsibilities of the office in Akuapem Mampong.
Kambon’s own professional life reflects a similar interest in preserving and examining African knowledge.
His work encompasses Akan language structure, naming practices across the Black world, proverbs and indigenous intellectual traditions.
Through Abibitumi, the platform he founded, he also promotes language learning, scholarship and cultural engagement.
But tradition was only one part of the story that day.
When the formal ceremony gave way to a reception, the occasion expanded into a celebration of three milestones: Kambon’s enstoolment, his promotion to full professor and his daughter Ama’s admission to the University of Ghana.
The gathering therefore carried a personal significance that went beyond the honours bestowed on one man. 
It celebrated professional advancement, the continuation of family aspirations and a connection to cultural heritage.
For a father, seeing a daughter gain admission to the same university where he holds a distinguished academic position offered another reason to celebrate.
For the professor, the moment placed family achievement alongside his own professional and traditional milestones.
Kambon had already established a place in the traditional life of Akuapem Mampɔn through an earlier installation as Banmuhene Kyidɔmhene, recorded in 2017.
His latest enstoolment adds another chapter to that relationship.
In Akuapem Mampɔn, the day brought together the university, the palace and the family table in one celebration. And for Kambon, the journey from the lecture room to the traditional procession showed how scholarship, cultural responsibility and family achievement could converge in a single memorable occasion.
By Enoch Ntiamoah Siaw
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