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Railway ministry averts disaster at Abofu
Following reports by the Ghanaian Times on the defective Achimota-Abofu stretch of the Odaw drain in Accra and its threats to adjoining structures, the Ministry of Railway Development has moved to safeguard rail tracks nearby.
The ministry is constructing a 50-metre retaining wall along the base of the Achimota under bridge to protect that section of the Accra-Nsawan railway from erosion caused by water from the drain.
Water from the dilapidated drain which passes beneath the bridge has veered into the embankment of the railway, eroding it and rendering the transport infrastructure dangerous.
The wall is being erected by the Ghana Railway Company Limited (GRCL) with large stones packed into metal mesh. It is also filling the eroded areas with similar stones.
During an inspection of the work yesterday,a Deputy Managing Director of the Ghana Railway Company Limited (GRCL), Dr Michael Adjei Anyetei said it would be completed next week.
He explained that the condition of the railway was not because the company did a shoddy job on the railway but as “result of a failed storm drain” adding that the water channel that retains the water should have been extended for free flow.
Beyond the work being done by the ministry, he called on the Ministry of Works and Housing to take immediate steps to address the defects of the bridge to prevent further damage.
“Even if you repair the rail track and the storm drain is not repaired it would be a recurring problem [in the area] and we will have to come and repair it,” Dr Anyetei explained.
Dr Anyetei who is in charge of engineering works, fell short of mentioning the cost of the retaining walls but did not deny that it was an additional cost to the state.
He said other parts of the railway system in Accra which were damaged by recent rains especially that of Tuesday dawn were also being rehabilitated by the company.
On the resumption of railway shuttle services, he said the sector ministry and other stakeholders were deliberating on the way forward because observing social distancing protocols in the trains would be expensive.
He served notice that structures of persons who had encroached areas near the tracks would be demolished soon after ongoing stakeholder consultation was completed.
In July Last year, Ghanaian Times reported that danger was looming at Abofu due to the dilapidated state of drain. The Hydrological Services Department promised to fix it early this year only to defer it to September this year.
BY JONATHAN DONKOR
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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