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Focus on education not dressing, makeup
Nana Ogyedom Ama Tsetsewa I
The Osumpahen of Gomoa Akyempin Traditional Council, Nana Ogyedom Ama Tsetsewa I, has asked women to pursue education and skills learning to put value on themselves.
In her view, women were gradually relegating issues about their education, skills learning and other ways of putting value on themselves to the background and rather seemed to be focusing on dressing well to look good.
“Much as a good appearance is not bad in itself, it was gradually becoming the most important thing in the life of many ladies, relegating other ways of adding value to themselves to the background,” she claimed.
Speaking in an interview with The Spectator on Tuesday, Nana Tsetsewa I said “Enough of the dressing and makeup. Every woman must strive to add intellectual value or have a skill to complement her looks.”
“Now when you engage many young ladies in a conversation, they appear more concerned about wearing makeup, beautiful dresses and pair of shoes. It is so disappointing that knowledge acquisition has become secondary,” she said.
Doubling as the Mankrado of Gomoa Oguan and also an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Practitioner, she said women play critical role in the society, and as the first person a child comes into contact with, it was good to add quality to her life so that she could pass on same.
Nana Tsetsewa I said the great women recognised in the history of Ghana were not celebrated because of their biological or physical appearance, but because of their intellectual attraction or empowerment and impact on society.
She said if women did not try harder as a group or individuals to add value to themselves, females would have only a handful of voices to represent them when it comes to making important decisions.
She said that women had all it took to make an impact on fields such as security, engineering, religion, tradition, media, academia, health, among others and urged them to go all out for it.
“Some women have paved the way to show that we can excel wherever we find ourselves. Mrs Gifty Afenyi Dadzie excelled in the Ghanaian media. So was American Talk Show hostess, Oprah Winfrey, in her field. In politics, former Liberian President, Ellen Sirleaf Johnson, showed her prowess. Warrior queen mother of Ejisu in the Ashanti Empire, Yaa Asantewaa, also made an impact on the traditional landscape.”
“If a woman empowers herself, she could stand up for herself and others and so unhealthy practices such as widowhood rites, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and abuse of many forms would be reduced,” she said.
In reference to the axiom “behind every successful man, there is a woman”, she stated that role can be performed in several capacities as wives, mothers, sisters or daughters, adding that “in all of them, women still play roles to inspire greatness in men to make the world a better place”.
She encouraged the youth to invest most of their time and energy in education, skills training or any other thing that would make them responsible in future.
Nana Ogyedom Tsetsewa I also advised healthy lifestyles and good eating habits to ensure good health because health is wealth.
From Dzifa Tetteh Tay, Tema.
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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