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‘Removal of tax on locally manufactured pads insignificant
Ms Osam
The removal of tax on locally manufactured pads by the government is insignificant, the Managing Director of Reflo Company Limited, producers of Reflos sanitary pad and baby diapers, Ms Rebecca Osam,has said.
This, she said was due to the fact that only a small percentage of pads used were produced locally. She said majority of the productswere imported.
Consequently, she proposed that government should consider removing taxes on imported sanitary pads to make them affordable.
Ms Osam said this in an interview with the Spectator in Accra last week.
The Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori Atta in his budget statement to Parliamentlast week announced that locally manufactured sanitary pads will no longer attract Value Added Tax (VAT).
He added that government would be scrapping import tax on raw materials for thelocal manufacture of sanitary pads.
But Ms Osam said the removal of VAT on locally produced sanitary pads would positively benefit only local producers.
However, she said since a small fraction of sanitary pads used were produced locally, the tax relief would not be felt by the users.
“Majority of sanitary pads are being manufactured internationally and importerswould still bear the VAT cost, thereby affecting their final prices.”
“I will continue to advocate the removal of taxes on all sanitary pads. These are essential products for women, not luxuries,” Ms Osam said.
Meanwhile in an interview with a cross section of women in Accra, they lauded government’s idea of zero tax on locally made sanitary pads, saying “we hope the market women will reduce the prices of locally manufactured pads.”
Ms Naomi Agyeman, a National Service Person with the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) said it was a good idea for government to remove taxes on locally manufactured pads.
She was of the view that it will help reduce the price and also be affordable for the less privileged and students.
She urged local manufacturers to either maintain or improve the standards of the pads to increase its presence on the market.
Ms Veronica Adwoa Mensah, a student said, “I think that is a good step taken by the government. As females, pads are very important for us and it becomes difficult for us to purchase when the prices are high.”
She was optimistic that with the zero tax, prices of locally manufactured pads will be reduced and also urged government to consider taking taxes off imported sanitary pads too.
Ms Pamela Davodzie, a student, said she will definitely purchase locally manufactured pad when the quality is good at the expense of the foreign ones
By Elizabeth Agyeibea Ackon
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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