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Pedestrian knockdown on the increase in W/R
Pedestrian knockdowns continue to attract the attention of road safety managers as number of persons injured rose from 100 in 2020 to 135 in 2021 in the Western Region, National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) reports from January to September this year revealed.
Pedestrians killed, however, reduced from 42 to 32, a 23.8 percent decrease. But, the total number of reported cases on pedestrian knockdowns rose from 130 to 167, during the period.
The Western Regional Manager of NRSA, Nana Akua Ansaah,told The Spectator recently.
She explained that walkways were for use by pedestrians and but observed that in most communities in the region, they had become car parks.
This , Nana Ansaah added, was a headache creating injuries and deaths among pedestrians on theroads.
Again, she told The Spectator that slabs removed during clean-ups were not restored and remained uncovered for days, forcing pedestrians to enter the road to compete with vehicles for space.
Nana Ansaah stressed : “Humans are vulnerable and our bones cannot be compared with metals on vehicles and any collision, pedestrians die; it’s a worry. We plead with road contractors and our engineers, to create pedestrian lay- bys to forestall the injuries and deaths.
“We need to prevent people from dying when using the road.The pedestrian walkways also promote healthy lifestyles as people used them for exercises.”
She again indicated that males killed during the period below age 18 reduced from 10 to four while males above 18 killed rose from 61 to 71, an increase of +16.4 percent while females above 18, who died, also rose from four to nine.
Nana Ansaah told the Spectator that persons killed in the commercial vehicle category rose from 23 to 36 while those injured reduced from 287 to 188, with taxis topping with an increase from 137 to 158.
Trycycles cases also rose from 99 to 142 during the period,saying “it’s a worry, we are losing national human resources, people in productive age bracket are dying.”
The road safety manager advocated that parents and the society should encourage females to join the road transport business just as some haulage companies had started because, statistics showed that, females had the patience and discipline to maintain high safety standards.
Nana Ansaah said: “The men claim they have the experience but if you have the experience and people continue to die on our roads, then it means you need to improve upon your driving skills. We have to make our roads safe for all users.”
From Clement Adzei Boye, Takoradi
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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