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AHISCO Centenary launch: Dr Bawumia hails impact of free SHS
• Dr Mahamud Bawumia interracting with a student of Accra High School
The Vice President Dr Mahamud Bawumia has reiterated government’s commitment to deliver on the promise of Free Senior High School which, he said, “continues to record high enrolment,” especially of girls.
He said that the policy had brought “great relief to parents” and was helping to ensure gender parity between boys and girls in secondary schools across the country.
Speaking at the launch of the centenary celebrations of Accra High School (AHISCO) last Saturday in Accra, he called on citizens to support various government initiatives and projects meant to ensure “economic transformation,” indicating that the New Patriotic Party administration was “focused on building a new economy in spite of challenges.”
Reflecting on the theme of the anniversary, “The state of education, The school and the future,” Dr Bawumia said the centenary celebrations should be “a time to open a new chapter.”
He, therefore, urged the board, management, staff and old students to help “take the school to the next level,” adding that government would “forever remain a great partner of AHISCO in any pursuit.”
Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, the Minister of Education, in his address, also maintained that the educational system was on the “right track in spite of challenges, and that the Free SHS policy was not a political gimmick.”
“Free SHS is not an end in itself; it is a means to the total transformation of our nation, Ghana. That is why those of use given the opportunity by the President to handle the education sector approach our work with passion,” he said.
He praised the school for the progress it had made over the years and pledged his support to the administration towards improving the infrastructure of the school.
“Even in the midst of challenges, we do not lose focus of the fact that we need to make Junior High Schools part of the secondary education system and help prepare students adequately for higher education,” he said.
Ms Evlyn Nabia, the Headmistress of AHISCO, also appealed to the government to provide the needed facilities to ensure “smooth take off” of the boarding status granted the school recently.
Acknowledging founding fathers and stakeholders for their support, she said the school, among other things, “needed general renovation of all structures, provision of more staff accommodation and the completion of a 12-unit classroom block which was started in 2019.”
She noted that the school had lost some of its facilities to sister institutions hence the need to upgrade existing structures and provide new ones, befitting an institution which had been made significant impact for the past decades.
The Centenary would begin in November, 2022, with a school fun fair and homecoming for old students and would be climaxed on November 19, 2023. Activities lined up include carol service, centenary lectures, workshop, revival, fundraising, sports, health walk, and candle light procession.
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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