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Court accepts Ato Essien’s GH¢90m repayment terms
An Accra High Court has modified its place and accepted the GH¢90 million repayment terms on Ato Essien’s restitution deal.
The Court presided over by Justice Eric Kyei Baffour final week rejected the settlement deal between state prosecutors and the embattled founding father of now-defunct Capital Bank, Ato Essien.
Justice Eric Kyei Baffour, a Justice of Appeal, sitting as a further High Court Judge, rejected the settlement, indicating that the quantity agreed to be paid was not adequate, and adjourned the case to December 13 for the events to handle the court docket on the authorized foundation of the terms of the settlement.
Ato Essien and two others have been on trial for the previous three years for his or her involvement within the collapse of Capital Bank. The prosecution had additionally accused Mr. Essien of misappropriating GH¢620 million liquidity assist prolonged by the Bank of Ghana to assist hold the financial institution afloat.
The prosecution and the accused in arriving on the settlement informed the court docket they got here underneath part 35 of the Courts Act, 1993, Act 459 (as amended). The provision states as follows:
“(1) Where a person is charged with an offence before the High Court or a Regional Tribunal, the commission of which has caused economic loss, harm or damage to the State or any State agency, the accused may inform the prosecutor whether the accused admits the offence and is willing to offer compensation or make restitution and reparation for the loss, harm or damage caused.”
Justice Kyei Baffour was sceptical in regards to the software of part 35 of the Courts Act to the current case, as he famous that the monies concerned belonged to depositors and shareholders of the defunct financial institution and never the state per se.
By the proposed settlement, Mr. Essien agreed to pay GH₵90 million in complete: GH₵30 million as we speak and GH₵60 million by instalment to the state.
But the court docket was sad with the association.
The decide additionally thought that the timing for the announcement of the deal was not one of the best, as he was able to ship his judgement.
Background
Mr. Essien is standing trial along with the previous Managing Director of the Bank, Rev. Fitzgerald Odonkor, and a former Managing Director of MC Management Service, Tetteh Nettey, additionally owned by Mr. Ato Essien.
Together, they have been tried on 23 counts of criminality, together with conspiracy to steal and stealing in reference to the collapse of Capital Bank in 2017.
They nonetheless pleaded not responsible to the costs and maintained their innocence all all through the trial, with Mr. Ato Essien sustaining in any respect materials moments that he had Board approval for all actions he took.
Section 35 of the Courts Act, 1993 (Act 459)
(1) Where an individual is charged with an offence earlier than the High Court or a Regional Tribunal, the fee of which has prompted financial loss, hurt or harm to the State or any State company, the accused could inform the prosecutor whether or not the accused admits the offence and is prepared to supply compensation or make restitution and reparation for the loss, hurt or harm prompted.
(2) Where an accused makes a suggestion of compensation or restitution and reparation, the prosecutor shall contemplate if the provide is suitable to the prosecution.
(3) If the provide just isn’t acceptable to the prosecution the case earlier than the Court shall proceed.
(4) If the provide is suitable to the prosecution, the prosecutor shall within the presence of the accused, inform the Court which shall contemplate if the provide of compensation or restitution and reparation is passable.
(5) Where the Court considers the provide to be passable, the Court shall settle for a plea of responsible from the accused and convict the accused on his personal plea, and in lieu of passing sentence on the accused, make an order for the accused to pay compensation or make restitution and reparation.
(6) An order of the Court underneath subsection (5) shall be topic to such situations because the Court could direct.
(7) Where an individual convicted underneath this part defaults within the fee of any cash required of the individual underneath this part or fails to fulfil any situation imposed by the Court underneath subsection (6), any quantity excellent shall grow to be due and payable and upon failure to make the fee, the Court shall proceed to cross a custodial sentence on the accused. [As substituted by the Courts (Amendment) Act, 2002 (Act 620), s.4]
Source: citinewsroom.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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