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Edith Wheatland, providing livelihood for women, children in rural areas
Ms Edith Wheatland
Edith Akorsah Wheatland, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Rockland Farms Limited, one of the most established poultry companies in Ghana, has gained popularity over the years for her support to women, children and the less privileged in rural communities.
Ms Wheatland is also a youth empowerment advocate and passionate about initiatives geared towards supporting persons with disabilities.
Ms Edith Wheatland is committed to taking concrete steps through her livelihood programmes to ensure that rural children have access to good nutrition in school.
The journey towards creating a successful business through which she carries out her Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) and philanthropic activities started in 2013 when Ms Wheatland decided to relocate to Ghana after several years in the United States where she worked with her uncle.
Ms Wheatland was moved to bridge the gap in the poultry industry where a minimal percentage of women owned poultry farms though they contributed largely to the labour force.
She then decided to quit the job in the US, relocate to Ghana and invest her savings from working abroad to set up a poultry farm with 8000 birds in the Ashanti Region to provide jobs for women and also become a force in the poultry industry.
The farm over the years had developed into an established business which can boast of a 100,000 capacity poultry farm with over 200,000 birds per cycle, a processing facility and commercial feed milling companies. The company have over 100 workers.
The newest product line from Rockland Farms, Akoko Tasty, is currently Ghana’s most popular packaged, locally produced, pre-cut chicken.
In keeping women and youth at the centre of her business, Edith supports over 6,000 smallholder farmers, with over 90 percent of them being women and youth.
She drew inspiration from the Sustainable Development Goals Five, Gender Equality and Women Empowerment to employ more women.
Ms Wheatland takes pride in the fact that, through her efforts, women had been engaged in the poultry business to reduce the male dominance.
These farmers receive inputs, technical support, equipment and seed money to mobilise savings and lending among themselves in order to profitably cultivate maize, as well as improve their livelihoods. Rockland Farms provides training and other support to 7,500 maize outgrowers (two acres average) who supply maize to feed the farm.
Rockland Farms supports children’s nutrition in schools in the Ashanti Region with farm supplies of over 240 free crates of eggs to 10 schools in Sekyere Kumawu and Sekyere Central districts from which over 6000 children benefit every month.
Edith Wheatland is Ghana’s current National Best Female Farmer. She is also a co-awardee of the Feed the Future Accelerating Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) Prize for promising business ventures in 2018.
She also won the African Agribusiness Woman of the Year at the 2023 African Women in Agribusiness Awards.
The poultry business though, had not been without challenges such as accessing wheat brands to process poultry feed.
Accessing working capital has also been a major challenge especially for women in the poultry sector.
Ms Wheatland has called on the government to invest into the local poultry industry to provide jobs for women to take care of their children.
Raised by a single mother and the difficulties she faced, Ms Wheatland is always empathetic about women and working towards providing the source of livelihood for women to care for their children without stress.
Going forward, she is optimistic of a great future where more women would be involved in the poultry industry and contribute to sustaining their families and the country at large.
By Michael D. Abayateye
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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Intercity STC Coaches Limited has interdicted a driver captured in a viral video allegedly hitting a Sprinter bus during an overtaking manoeuvre at Pokuase before driving away from the scene.
In a public notice, the company described the driver’s conduct as unacceptable, stressing that it did not reflect the safety standards and professionalism it upholds.
Management said it had commenced an immediate investigation into the incident and identified the driver, who has been interdicted pending the outcome of the disciplinary process.
The company added that it was awaiting an official report from the Pokuase Police Command to help establish the facts surrounding the incident.
STC reaffirmed its commitment to passenger safety and responsible road use, while thanking members of the public for bringing the incident to its attention.
Management assured the public that appropriate action would be taken following the investigation.
By: Jacob Aggrey
