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‘Don’t stigmatise children with clubfoot’
Healthworkers at 37 Military Hospital attending to a child with clubfoot
The Head of Orthopaedics and Trauma Unit at the 37 Military Hospital, Lt. Col. Delali Adzigbli, has advised the public not to stigmatise mothers who give birth to babies with clubfoot.
Describing clubfoot as a “spontaneous deformity”, he said the condition did not affect only the poor neither was it a fault from the baby or mother, therefore, “there is no reason anybody should be stigmatised.”
He said the condition was treated free of charge and children could grow up to live normal lives, hence money should not be an impediment to anyone seeking treatment for the condition.
“When the baby is born, the tissues are very soft so they respond very well to manipulation and as they mature, they are able to stretch out and allow the feet to assume their natural position and that is the aim of the treatment,” he stated.
Lt. Col Adzigbli made the remarks last Thursday when the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG) and Hope Walks, a non-governmental organisation, collaborated with the 37 Military Hospital to mark this year’s World Clubfoot Day.
“Clubfoot is a birth defect in which one or both feet of a child is/are twisted inwards and downwards. About one in 1,000 babies born in Ghana have the deformity.
The commemoration was to create awareness and provide treatment for children with the condition. About 15 children born with clubfoot at different stages of treatment were attended to by health workers at Osei Kwame Despite Block at the 37 Military Hospital.
Lt. Col Adzigbli, explaining the treatment process, noted that an assessment was done to determine the severity of deformity before it was corrected stage by stage.
He said early detection was appropriate but the condition could still be corrected if the child was older. “The earlier treatment is started, the better”, he said.
Pastor Joseph Andrews, Parent Advisor at the Osei Kwame Despite Block at the 37 Millitary Hospital, also debunked myths associated with clubfoot and asked parents not to fret when they saw signs of the condition in new borns.
“It is a sickness like polio, chickenpox or measles, it affects everyone so don’t hide your baby; just come out and receive treatment,” he said.
Nana Afua Adutwumaa Adjeitey, Programme Manager CHAG/Hope Walks, was impressed with the awareness and the impact the organisation continued to make.
She said the organisation would intensify education and continue to support treatment for clubfoot.
Ms. Esther Esi Gyekye, Clinic Supervisor at the Children’s Block, indicated that about 30 cases of clubfoot were being managed at the facility and more parents were turning up with their wards for treatment.
Apart from the 37 Military Hospital, treatment for clubfoot is available free of charge on selected days at the Tamale Teaching Hospital, St. John of God Hospital, Duayaw-Nkwanta, Bono Ahafo, SDA Hospital, Kwadaso, Kumasi, every Friday and SDA Hospital, Gbawe, Accra.
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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