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Rising above the cerebral palsy stigma – Nii Anyetei’s story
Nii Anyetei
He was diagnosed with jaundice at birth which later developed into cerebral palsy, but that did not stop him from finding success despite the challenges he encountered growing up.
Cerebral palsy is a group of disorders that affect a person’s ability to move and maintain balance and posture. It is most common motor disability in childhood.
Born in 1990, 33-year-old Nii Anyetei Akogyeram was a victim of stigmatisation from friends and mates at school with some calling him with names like ‘saliva boy’, ‘snake worms’ and other weird names which often provoked him.
With the help of the late Dr W.Y Anoff, who nicknamed him Professor and helped him with his speech therapy, Nii Anyetei refused to let his disability affect his education and career.
He currently holds a Diploma in Software Engineering from IPMC and now works with KFC, North Industrial Area branch as a Surveillance Officer.
Speaking to The Spectator on Monday, Nii Anyetei said, he did not attend a special school based on the advice of his doctor. He had his nursery and kindergarten education at Super Day school in Cantonment and was one of the best pupils in the school.
After completing his nursery and kindergarten education, his parents enrolled him in Mother Care school at East Cantonment close to the Airforce Officer’s Mess where he had his primary education.
“At my primary school I had enough love and care from my teachers and classmates even though other children in the school were scared of me because of my condition,” he said.
He later left Mother Care in class six and continued at the Air Force Basic School in Burma Camp where “I had much fun,” and was appointed a general overseer of the school. He said when writing the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in 2006, the school had to request for extra time so he could finish all his papers due to his condition.
He wrote the papers and passed with flying colours. He attended Armed Forces Senior High School and offered General Arts. “I failed my papers three years later and had to stay home for four years,” he said. His father later took him to M&J computer institute in Labone in 2012 where he became the best student in class and later assisted the lecturer in teaching other students
He passed his final paper and started working at Kenthouse Security Company as a controller and was later moved to administration. In 2015, he enrolled at IPMC where he later obtained a Professional Diploma in Software Engineering and Programming but could not cope with both work and school so he resigned from work.
Nii Anyetei said he loves sports and adventure, so at his leisure time he either plays football or basketball, swims as well as go for camping. He is a Christian and a member of the Prince Emmanuel Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Church, at Ring Road.
He said in order to help curb the plastic menace, he and his friends make slippers and other products from plastics. “I am also an advocate for cerebral palsy because people with the condition are stigmatised, so I came up with a campaign to reduce it, or possibly end stigmatisation in the world,” he said.
Nii Anyetei is the founder of Cerebral Palsy Awareness Ghana, an organisation which seeks to create awareness, educate and help reduce stigmatisation of the condition.
“I want to help people with disability especially cerebral palsy, this is my burning desire,” he added. Touching on the country’s educational system with regards to inclusivity, he described it as very poor when it comes to persons with disability.
He explained that some head teachers refused to register children with disability for the BECE saying the only option for parents was to register their wards privately.
Nii Anyetei said, people with disability needed assistive devices for their education as most of them did not have good handwriting which affected them negatively in the examination.
“Due to my bad handwriting, I was not able to pass my examination, because the examiners could not see what I had written,” he revealed.
He, therefore, urges the government and the Ghana Education Service to provide persons with disability with assistive devices.
“It is needed, it’s going to be very useful because we can’t use our hands to write well,” he stressed. Nii Anyetei dreams of having a family of his own in the near future.
By Jemima Esinam Kuatsinu
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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Intercity STC Coaches Limited has interdicted a driver captured in a viral video allegedly hitting a Sprinter bus during an overtaking manoeuvre at Pokuase before driving away from the scene.
In a public notice, the company described the driver’s conduct as unacceptable, stressing that it did not reflect the safety standards and professionalism it upholds.
Management said it had commenced an immediate investigation into the incident and identified the driver, who has been interdicted pending the outcome of the disciplinary process.
The company added that it was awaiting an official report from the Pokuase Police Command to help establish the facts surrounding the incident.
STC reaffirmed its commitment to passenger safety and responsible road use, while thanking members of the public for bringing the incident to its attention.
Management assured the public that appropriate action would be taken following the investigation.
By: Jacob Aggrey
