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Mother shed tears as daughter grabs six awards at school’s anniversary ceremony
Mother of multiple award winner lies down flat. (Inset) Matilda
Make no mistake, this is not a push-up exercise. It is an expression of joy by a mother whose 17-year-old, Second Year science student, received six awards at the 40th anniversary celebrations of the Tema Methodist Day Senior High School (MEDASS).
Carried away by her daughter’s impressive performance, Mrs Beatrice Mensah Abugri dashed to the podium and went down on the carpet expressing uncontrollable joy before getting up to hug her ‘princess’.
Speaking in an interview with The Spectator, MrsAbugri said as she sat among other parents and watched Matilda Abugri’s name being mentioned subject after subject to come for an award, she felt so proud.
She said she had always known her daughter to be a devoted student who would even choose books over food, but had least expected that she would perform at such level.
At the third award, she went straight to hug her daughter and walked away with tears of joy flowing freely.
Mrs. Abugri, a Seamstress, recalled how her daughter was rejected at her preferred schools.
“She was devastated and so as a mother, I talked to her and prayed fervently to accept the school offered her,”she said.
She said her daughter had always wanted to go to a boarding school so when the news came that she had been given a day school, it was a big blow to her and the entire family.
MrsAbugri said she was happy her efforts had paid off and was optimistic about better days ahead for her daughter.
According to her Matilda, being the first of her five children, had successfully raised the bar on academics and morality in their home, and hoped that the other children will emulate her good example.
The proud mother disclosed that her daughter, a former student of Leostar International School at Washington in the Kpone-Katamanso District of the Greater Accra Region, was always regular and punctual at school.
The multiple award- winning student said she was determined to work harder to be able to excel academically and be a motivation to many students.
Matilda Abugri was among a total of 65 students whoreceived awards in various classes and subjects at the MEDASS.
The theme for the occasion was “Quality infrastructural development for a sustainable and impactful education -the role of stakeholders.”
The President of the school’s Old Student’s Association, MrRichmond John Aseeph, said infrastructure had been a challenge for the school throughout its existence, and urged philanthropists to come to the aid of the school.
He called on the old students, Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) and all stakeholders to support the school in the construction of an auditorium estimated at GhȻ125million to address their infrastructural challenges.
The building, when completed, would have classrooms, canteen, laboratory, assembly hall, among others.
From DzifaTettehTay, 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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