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Ofori Panin SHS wins drama contest with splendid performance
Students of Ofori Panin Senior High School performing a play on unemployment
A splendid dramatic performance put up by students of Ofori Panin Senior High School in the Eastern Region earned them the highest prize of the maiden edition of the National High School Drama Competition, held on Friday, October 7, 2022, at the National Theatre in Accra.
The students performed on how unemployed graduates, in a hurry to better their lives, indulge in money rituals and other vices which eventually land them in deep troubles.
For coming out on top, Ofori Panin SHS received a beautiful trophy and cash of GHc2, 000, while Odorgonno Senior High School, the runner-up, received a trophy and cash prize of GHC1, 000. Manya Krobo Senior High School which came third received a trophy and cash prize of GHc500.
The competition, organised by Alpha Promotions and Simdos Entertainment in collaboration with High School Media Club, brought together 18 Senior High Schools to compete for the prizes at stake.
Some of the participants were Benkum Senior High School, Adonten Senior High School, Bright Senior High School, St. Johns Grammar Senior High School and Oyoko Methedist Senior High School,
Others were WBM Zion Senior High School, Diaspora Girls Senior High School, Nungua Senior High School, Labone Senior High School, Akuse Methodist Senior High School and Kinbu Senior High School.
The rest were Presbyterian Senior High School (Osu), New Juaben Senior High School, Oti Boateng Senior High School and Koforidua Secondary Technical School.
The schools dramatised bribery and corruption, tribal disputes and their negative impact on society, unemployment and greed, early child marriage, among others.
The judges looked for students’ adherence to the 20 minutes alloted to each school to perform their excellent acting skills, and the issues they addressed through drama.
Mr. Henry Morgan, one of the judges, said the reason for organising the national competition was “to encourage the students to be critical thinkers and act creatively, improve their writing skills and to develop their problem-solving skills that can be applied in all areas of education.”
The competition uses drama as an important tool to prepare students to develop tolerance, self-confidence, social awareness and ability to work in a world that is increasingly team oriented.
Ms. Priscilla Akyea Eshun, a participating student from Ofori Panin Senior High School and president of the High School Media Club said she was delighted and privileged to be part of the winning team at the competition, adding that “our shining performance has boosted our confidence and emboldened us to be set to achieve more successes in our future endeavours.”
By Agnes Nyarkoa Eshun
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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