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Limited Voter Registration Exercise: EC actually taking steps to stop people from registering – Kofi Bentil
Lawyer and Senior Vice President of IMANI-Africa, Kofi Bentil says the actions of the Electoral Commission (EC) in the ongoing voter registration is to disfranchise a lot of Ghanaians.
According to him, the EC is constitutionally obligated to expand and execute specific programs and has the necessary resources to do so.
Mr. Bentil explained that any deviation from this constitutional mandate could lead to the removal of the Electoral Commissioners from their positions.
Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, Mr Bentil clarified that the issue is not merely about neglecting responsibilities; but it’s also about actively obstructing people’s right to register.
“In omission and commission, it’s not a matter of just omitting, like they are not doing anything, the suggestion is that there will be problems with people exercising their rights to register.”
According to him, the primary purpose of the EC is to address obstacles and facilitate the voter registration process, therefore, they should proactively implement measures to enhance the voter registration exercise.
“The EC was set up to take away those problems, clear the way and create situations that will enable people to register. So they should actually do things, commit actions that will expand registration,” he said.
Mr Bentil maintained that “in this case, if you are not doing it at all, then you are omitting to do your job but as far as I’m concerned, they are actually taking steps, committing actions to stop people from registering which is directly against what they are to do.”
He criticised the utilisation of state resources to undermine public policy objectives, saying “We should all be minded when we do some of these things.”
The IMANI-Africa Vice President’s assertion comes after the EC announced that the voter registration exercise would only take place at its district offices across the country.
However, this decision has not received the support of many political parties.
The National Democratic Congress and four other political parties on Thursday, September 7 sued the EC over its insistence on conducting the 2023 limited voter registration exercise at its district offices.
The suit was joined by the Convention People’s Party, All People’s Congress, Liberal Party of Ghana and the Great Consolidated Popular Party who said the decision would disenfranchise many eligible voters.
They, thus, ask the Supreme Court to prevent the electoral management body from proceeding with the exercise pending the final determination of the substantive matter.
Source:Myjoyonline.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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