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Close ‘Ataya’, Pito joints to contain COVID-19
With the surge in coronavirus (COVID-19) infections in the country, the Upper West Regional Health Promotion Officer, Mr John Maakpe has called on residents to suspend the act of converging at joints to share drinks such as pito and a local tea called “ataya”.
The officer noted with concern the blatant disregard for the safety protocols at the joints which were made up of mostly males of the same age or interest groups, who normally drank together and talked for long hours before retiring to their respective homes for the night.
“These are people coming from different areas although you meet every day but you are not sure where they had been before the meeting. These are critical times where we need to do away with things that are not very crucial and save our lives,” he said.
Mr Maakpe who stated this in an interview with “The Spectator” at Wa said it was time to break the pito and ataya camps for now and reconvene after the disease was brought under control.
Ataya is a Senegalese term for the Chinese Gunpowder green tea leaves boiled for 20 minutes and is believed to make men more potent whilst pito is a local drink brewed from millet; both of which are enjoyed by natives of the region depending on their religious inclination.
The practice has been that males numbering about five, converge at a point, sometimes in camps to drink the ‘ataya’ which is mostly boiled and served in small silver cups owned by the group or camp for that purpose amidst long conversations or discussions.
The pito on the other hand, is mostly prepared for sale and customers buy and enjoy in calabashes belonging to the pito vendor.
Mr Maakpe raised concern about the use or sharing of cup or calabashes which had been used by another person to serve someone else without proper washing as well as the removal of the nose mask before drinking in continuous conversation and sitting close to one other in a circle.
“Social distancing does not work at such joints, the pito is sometimes better because it is not every time people gather at the place but the ataya seems to be a daily routine for some people and they do not wear nose masks because of the drinking but talk endlessly”, he said, and advised lovers of pito to buy the drink in gallons and take home.
Speaking about other areas of concern, Mr Maakpe said some traders at the market who were at a higher risk of contracting the virus had also refused to wear their nose masks in spite of the intensive education the regional health directorate had given them.
“Sometimes when they see you coming, they put on the masks but take them off after you are gone and this is quite uncalled for,” he stressed.
He reminded Christians and their Muslim counterpart to observe social distancing in the churches and at mosques,
“Even though we are there to worship, we can still take the virus home if we are not careful, so we have to observe the protocols as the scripture says “obedience is better than sacrifice,” he added.
From: Lydia Darlington Fordjour, Wa
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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