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Don’t leave irresponsible fathers to God, take legal action – Counsellor tells mothers
• Mr Tweneboah Mensah making a point
A Marriage and Family Life Counsellor, Peter Tweneboah Mensah, has advised women to take legal action against irresponsible fathers of their children rather than leaving them to God.
He said hauling such fathers before the appropriate authorities to compel them to live up to their parental obligations was the right thing to do and would serve as a deterrent to other fathers.
In an interview with The Spectator on Wednesday, Mr. Mensah said the days when a father would shirk his responsibilities towards his children, put the burden of raising them entirely on the mother only to show up years later to ask for forgiveness, were over.
He said even if such fathers should be forgiven, they should be compelled by law to adequately compensate the children and the mother.
“No one can change the father of a child, the children will always go back to their fathers or the fathers will come for them and so the right thing has to be done which is to ensure that all fathers do what is expected of them,” he stressed.
He said institutions like the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) and others which performed similar functions were not created for nothing.
He said “some children have missed the opportunity to become useful human resource to their societies because they did not get the needed push from their parents with some falling into bad company and were currently a threat to the country.”
The Marriage and Family Life Counsellor said some children had also become bitter people because they found themselves in an environment where they were subjected to physical, emotional, and verbal abuse in many forms because they did not have their fathers to provide as well as protect them.
He said it was wrong for any parents to let their innocent children suffer for a breakdown in their parents’ relationship.
“When there is divorce or an end to any form of relationship between two adults which produced children, it doesn’t end the responsibility towards the children because when you made the choice to be together, they were not consulted” he said.
Mr. Mensah said it was heartbreaking to see some women single-handedly taking care of their children and sometimes have to resort to doing menial jobs just to provide for their basic needs.
He said no matter how little a father had, he should be able to support his children and get closer to help shape their lives.
He advised children who were products of irresponsible fathers not to repeat their actions but strive to be better parents to make things better for their children.
He cautioned women to be vigilant and make the right choices to prevent situations where they put unnecessary pressure on themselves and their children.
From DzifaTettehTay, Ashaiman.
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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