Hot!
Runaway chainsaw operator remanded
The 35-year-old chainsaw operator who allegedly slapped his girlfriend to death but was later arrested from his hideout was last Friday remanded in prison custody by the Shame District Magistrate Court.
Mr. Stephen Odoom also known as Kwaku Mensah had a confrontation with Ms Akua Kyerewaa, 36, at Wassa Essaman in the Wassa East District of the Western Region where the accused gave his deceased girlfriend a slap in reply to an earlier slap he received from her (deceased).
The court, presided by Mrs Patience Ashiamae Ablor, did not take his plea and remanded the accused in prison custody at Sekondi to reappear on November 26.
Meanwhile, Police investigations continue.
Odoom, alias Kwaku Mensah, was arrested on Wednesday, October 16, 2021, and placed in custody at the Dabodse Distict Police Command.
According to the police, the accused, murdered Kyerewaa after frequent misunderstanding over step-children and fled Wassa Essaman but he was arrested, by the Daboase police in his hideout at Agona Kwanyako, in the Central Region,
Multiple sources explained that in the course of a quarrel, Kyerewaa slapped Odoom, who also replied and the deceased fell leading to her death the police told The Spectator.
Meanwhile, the body of the deceased has since been deposited at the Effia Nkwanta Regional Hospital morgue awaiting autopsy.
In an interview, the Western Regional Police Public Affairs Officer,Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Olivia Ewurabena Adiku said that, at about 8.30am on Sunday, October 17, the police received information from Silas Kwofie, the ex-regent of Wassa Essaman that Kyerewaa had been found dead in a bush at the outskirts of the town.
The police, she said, rushed to Wassa Essaman where they found Kyerewaa dead and lying in a supine position with blood and foam oozing from the mouth in a bush near Italy Stree, a suburb of the community.
DSP Adiku mentioned that an uncle of Kyerewaa, Peter Barnes, confirmed the identity of the deceased and that she had five children.
Giving further details, DSP Adiku narrated that investigations revealed that the deceased, Kyerewaa for sometime now, lived in her house with her boyfriend, Kwaku Mensah, a chainsaw operator and a native of Egyaa Number ‘2’ in the Central Region.
She said, they both had children from their previous relationships, who were living with them but they had misunderstandings over their step children , and as a result, Kyerewaa threatened to evict Mensah from the house at Italy street, Wassa Essaman.
DSP Adiku again said that, at about 6pm two weeks ago, the two returned from the farm with similar misunderstanding which was not resolved, so on Sunday, October 17, Akua Kyerewaa was found dead in a bush, about 100 metres away from their residence.
“It was also realised that the boyfriend, Kwaku Mensah, had packed all his belongings from the room of the deceased.” she said.
The Spectator on its Saturday, October 26, 2021, carried a story on the front page with the headline “Dirty” slap lands chainsaw operator in trouble”.
From Clement Adzei Boye, Sekondi
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
SKIP THE QUEUE, TAP THE NEWS
You can now read the Ghanaian Times and The Spectator newspapers from the comfort of your device via TimesNewsPlus.
Join our WhatsApp Channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbBElzjInlqHhl1aTU27
