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AHISCO @ 99 …old students encouraged to keep torch ablaze
Mr Osei presenting the polythank to Stepehen Owusu looking
on second left is the headmistress and others
Following many years of legacy and impact, the Governing Board, Management, Staff and Old Students of Accra High School (AHISCO) have commenced series of year-long activities to mark the school’s 99th Founders’ Day celebration.
The commemoration which began officially on Wednesday, August 17, 2022, is spearheaded by the 1972, 1982, 1992 and 2002 Year Groups and would be climaxed with a Homecoming event on Saturday, November 19, 2022.
The groups were mandated by the National Executive Committee of AHISCO Old Students Association (AHISCOSA) on March 7, 2022, to plan and finance programmes outlined for the anniversary.
Activities preceding Wednesday’s gathering included orientation and mentorship session for continuing students. AHISCO is again lacing boots for its Centenary celebration later in August 2023.
Mr. Osei Bonsu Dickson, Director Legal at the Ministry of National Security, delivering the keynote address, described his journey through AHISCO as a “fulfilling one.”
He said as the school continued to produce more influential people in society, it was “important for the story of AHISCO to be told” as it prepared for the years ahead.
He said the advancement in technology implied that the current body of students must be “equipped for the changes that come with the fourth industrial revolution.”
To this end, he announced the introduction of a Cyber Security Mentorship Programme which would ensure that students “were not left out of the cyber revolution.”
Mr. Osei Bonsu again urged the students to remain grateful to their Alma Mater and maintain “a sense of pride for being part of the ‘Onukapai’ family,” adding that continuing students should tap the expertise of mentors whenever they were at the “crossroads.”
Madam Evelyn Nabia, Headmistress of Accra High School, in her address, also stressed the need to consolidate the progress made by the institution over the years.
“Starting with eight students, the student population currently stands at 2,636. Our school after many decades will go through a new phase and we need to build upon what the founding fathers have done,” she said.
She praised the old students for the support they continued to provide and encouraged them to engage the government to ensure more developmental projects were implemented to help expand existing infrastructure in the school.
Real Admiral (rtd) Muhammef Munir Tahiru, Chairman of the occasion, also urged the various year groups to “keep up the can-do spirit” and continue to impact the school and society positively.
“AHISCO was not established to serve itself; it was established to be a leader. Compared with other schools, we were given the least but we continue to prove that we can do it better than anybody else and have no doubt that we will continue to be the best,” he said, and called on AHISCODIANS to turn out in their numbers for the Centenary launch and celebrations.
Mr. Peter Yao Bosrotsi, Financial Secretary of AHISCO Old Students’ National Executive Committee, also thanked the government for making the school a boarding institution.
He congratulated the 1972, 1982, 1992 and 2022 year groups on their initiative and tasked them to do more to improve the fortunes of the school.
The occasion which attracted hundreds of old students saw the induction of executives of the 1999 and 2003 year groups. The 1972 year group donated 20,000 litre polytank while the ’85 year group is also sponsoring the construction of a mechanised bore hole for the school.
By Ernest Nutsugah
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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