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Research reveals: Sex for sanitary pads cause of teenage pregnancy in Wa East
A research conducted in some parts of the Upper West Region relative to teenage pregnancy has produced a “very worrying result” which should be of concern to all.
It is noted that the inability of some girls in the Wa East District of the region to raise money for sanitary pads has compelled them to engage in premarital sex in exchange of money to buy the pad.
This practice has disturbingly resulted in high rate of teenage pregnancy in the area.
The research which was titled “Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health in the Wa East District of the Upper West Region: A synthesis of Research Evidence” was conducted by the Regional Youth Parliament with support from Plan International Ghana.
It was revealed that 83 percent of adolescent-girl respondents who participated in the research said they indulged in premarital sex with males for money to buy sanitary pads.
According to the study, some of the girls were not provided with pads by their parents who had relegated their responsibilities to the backyard making it difficult for them to get supply of their basic needs such as sanitary pads.
Explaining the details of the study to The Spectator Newspaper at Wa, the Speaker of the Youth Parliament, Mr James Baba Anabiga said that the study included 300 respondents comprising parents and guardians as well as adolescent girls in the community.
He said most of the girls confessed to have slept with a men in exchange of money to buy sanitary pad or were still sleeping with men for money to buy such basic necessities.
“When we have about 57 per cent of parents reneging on their responsibilities due to poverty or sheer negligence, then we will have such a situation at hand because menstruation is a biological consequence which happens every month whether the girl is prepared for it or not”, he said.
He explained that some of the girls said they had to stay away from school during menstruation and it affected their studies but with the help of the men, they were able to buy sanitary pads and ensured that they stayed in school.
“But to what extent is this feasible when our study uncovered that 41 per cent of girls who indulged in such premarital sexual activities ended up getting pregnant, and out of that number, 34 per cent are married off at very tender ages whereas eight per cent were compelled by the circumstances at hand to drop out of school”, he lamented.
Mr. Anabiga again said that in spite of efforts to increase sexual education to adolescent girls, most parents did not appreciate the fact that some of their daughters were exposed to sex at very early stages of their life until they showed up pregnant.
“Wa East is one of the poorest districts in the region yet existing data and media reports indicate that early and unprotected sexual practices by adolescents are a common trend that exposes them to many reproductive health challenges such as unplanned teenage pregnancies, school dropouts, unsafe abortion, and sexually transmitted infections and diseases (STIs/STDs)”, he said.
He said the study suggested that to help solve the problem, parents, District Assembly, Member of Parliament for the area as well as government should initiate moves that would help support the girls and protect them from unscrupulous men.
“Parents must perform their responsibilities to the core, bearing in mind that each child they bring forth is their responsibility; the district assembly and office of the MP should support girls with sanitary pads as well as provide funding for programmes aimed at educating the girls on sexual and reproductive health”, he said.
On the whole, the speaker of the Youth Parliament called on government to introduce free sanitary pad policy to ensure that girls in rural and deprived communities had access to the sanitary towels without having to pay for them as he believed such policies would save the girls from engaging in promiscuity in order to raise money for the pad.
From Lydia Darlington Fordjour, Wa
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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