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States must use their influence to end Israel-Hamas war – UN Resident Coordinator
States must use their influence to end the war between Isreal and Hamas ,the United Nations Resident Coordinator, Charles Abani has stated.
“Let us re-affirm our collective responsiblity to uphold the rights and aspirations of all people including the Palestinian people and to work together for peaceful and lasting resolution of the conflict in the interest of both Palestinians and Isrealis and of the entire region and the world.”
He said this at the occassion of the 2023 International day of solidarity with Palestinian people in Accra last Thursday.
The day was to call for somber reflection,action and reinforce the need for peace and dialogue to end the loss of life including women and children.
The occassion brought dignitaries such as members of the diplomatic corps, clergy, instititions, Ghanaian and Palestinian communities who hoised the flag of Palestine and chanting “free free Palestine”
Others weilded placards with inscriptions ‘Cease fire stop the genocide’ and Free Palestine” among others.
Mr Abani said Palestinians in Gaza were suffering a humanitarian catastrophe,adding that almost 1.7 million people had been forced from their home.
He said the UN had been able to scale up the delivery of humanitarian assistance into and across Gaza, adding that 200 trucks were dispatched from Nitsana to the Rafah crossing,129,000 litres of fuel and four trucks of gas also crossed inro Gaza.
The Ambassador of the State of Palestine to Ghana,Mr Abdalfatah Ahmed Alsattari commended Ghanaians for their support in ensuring Palestinians freedom over the years.
He said over 20,000 people were killed other maimed including women and children.
The Ambassador said schools, hospital, churches and mosque have been attacked.
He said “the atrocities started in 1948 and not weeks ago,we have strong believe that one day it would end and Palestine will be free”.
The Spokesperson of the National Chief Imam,Sheikh Aremeyaw Shaibu said, the solidarity to the people of Palestine was a human responsibility and human duty.
“We must stand in solidarity, in emotions, prayers for Palestinians to be free,” he added.
He stated that it was a duty to hold the hands of injustice against a section of people who are suffering the treatment
He said there had been brutalities in Palestine where their freedom had been taken away.
He said for the past 75years there had been torrrential raining of bombs killing mlstly women and children and people becoming refugees in their own homes.
Hamas on October 7, this year launched its assault on Isreal, killing more than 1,000 people and taking 200 hostages in an unprecedented suprise attack during a major jewish holiday.
A stunned Isreal launched airstrikes in Gaza, with its prime Minister, saying the country was now at war with Hamas and vowing to inflict an “unprecedented price.”
By Anita Nyarko-Yirenkyi
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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