Hot!
Mrs Gifty Oware-Mensah, impacting lives of young people through football
Mrs Oware-Menssah and husband
Prior to becoming an Executive Committee (ExCo) member of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) in 2023, Mrs Gifty Oware-Mensah had gained popularity for her exploits with one of Ghana’s established female football teams, Berry Ladies.
The 38-year-old took young orphan girls and some talented street children to build her team while providing them decent livelihoods as a way of giving back to society.
Mrs Oware-Mensah has since impacted the lives of hundreds of young people through football and many others through her work with the National Service Secretariat (NSS) as the Deputy Executive Director since 2017.
The astute politician, business mogul and administrator is passionate about the development of young people especially girls, ensuring that they had a decent living and contribute their quota to national development.
Mrs Oware-Mensah after engaging in business and politics most of her life decided to get into football administration in 2019. She, however, had interest in sports as she played football, hockey and badminton during her school days.
Prior to that, she had collaborated with the Ghana League Clubs Association (GHALCA) to organise the Sammy Kufuor Testimonial Cup in 2011 as a marketing person; that was the first time she got closer with ‘football people.’
Fast-forward, she became Co-owner of Halifax Ladies Football Club and bought shares in Berekum Chelsea to mark a major step into football administration.
In 2021, Mrs Oware-Mensah thought she could do more with women football by becoming an ExCo member and for the first time in the history of Ghana football, she went through unopposed with 20/20 endorsement in 2023.
During her tenure, the Black Queens qualified for the 2024 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) for the first time in six years with the Black Maidens also qualifying for the 2024 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Costa Rica.
She is also looking forward to the Black Queen’s qualification to the Olympic Games for the first time.
BUSINESS AND GOVERNANCE
In 2009 she ventured into business and governance by setting up Berry Events Company and Multimedia Company to promote young people in entertainment.
She entered into politics from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) as a Tertiary Students Confederacy (TESCON) girl in 2004 since she always loved the ideology of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
In 2012, she started working within the NPP structure and in 2014 contested the National Youth Organiser as the first woman to contest the position and though she lost, she still worked with the party.
Mrs Oware-Mensah also worked at the Danquah Institute and rose from being a Researcher to Head of Research until the NPP came to power in 2016. In 2017 and at age 29, she was appointed the Deputy Director at the NSS a position she holds till date.
While at the NSS, Mrs Oware-Mensah ensured several innovations such as digitizing the system where people spent less time at the registration centres. She also brought up the inclusion desk that supports the welfare of women and vulnerable persons.
PHILANTHROPY
Mrs Oware-Mensah runs a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) called Berry Empowerment which among other things organises the Afia Oware Women Summit which empowers young people.
She is naturally a philanthropist and gives to people from across the country. Aside Berry Ladies, she has shares in Kumasi Sports Academy and other teams to serve as livelihoods to young ones in football.
Mrs Oware-Mensah supported Kurt Okraku to be elected as President of the GFA as well as assisting all the female national teams in various capacities.
HOBBIES
She loves writing and is also a poet. She is currently working on her memoir to be published when she clocks 40 (in two years).
EDUCATION AND BACKGROUND
Mrs Oware-Mensah is the first daughter of three siblings and comes from Koforidua in the Eastern Region. She started school at St. Mary’s(basic education) and went to Victory International School before attending the Ghana Secondary School in 2001 where she read General Arts.
She went to KNUST in 2010 for her first degree in History. She also has Masters (MA) in Defence and International Politics, MA in Public Administration also from KNUST, Post Graduate Diploma from the University of South Africa on Management of Democratic Elections and MA from the University of Birmingham in Policy and Development Planning. Currently, she is a Historical Studies PhD candidate at KNUST.
She is married to a Lawyer, Peter Mensah and has a child. She is a devoted Christian with the Assemblies of God (Cedar Mountain) church.
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
SKIP THE QUEUE, TAP THE NEWS
You can now read the Ghanaian Times and The Spectator newspapers from the comfort of your device via TimesNewsPlus.
Join our WhatsApp Channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbBElzjInlqHhl1aTU27
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
