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The Ayews predicament …To quit or not to quit
• The Ayew brothers, Andre (left) and Jordan
It’s interesting how things can change very fast in life.
In sports, particularly football, this scenario can be perfectly illustrated with its daily happenings.
In a minute, a player becomes a hero of a club or a national team, leading him to success on the field or chalking some historic wins. His absence can even affect the team’s confidence.
The next moment, this player becomes a villain who has overstayed his welcome, and he must retire or quit the club or national team.
Even when the player feels he has a little more to give, he is looked in the face by the same fans that applauded him and told that ‘Massa’, your time is up.’
From that moment, the player becomes the problem of the club or national team and is at fault for every negativity around it.
Ask players like Ivorian international and Manchester City legend, Yahaya Toure, Ghana legend Asamoah Gyan and recently the Ayew brothers – Andre and Jordan, or axed Black Stars coach, Chris Hughton; they know about this.
But what these players or coaches do not know or refuse to accept is the axiom suggesting that one needs to leave the stage while the ovation is loudest.
Those who exit the stage while the applause was loudest do not have the unpleasant experience of courting bad publicity or becoming a desperado to the same fans that once sang the player’s praise.
Former Ghana international and Dortmund star, Otto Addo, may be relaxing
in his Dortmund base today, observing happenings in the camp of the Black Stars and perhaps, be wondering whether he would have been the target of that fan attack in Cote d’Ivoire following the team’s poor showing at AFCON 2023.
Addo guided the Black Stars to snatch a FIFA World Cup ticket from Nigeria over two legs to send the entire nation into frenzy. By the time the excitement came down, Ghana was out of the World Cup following an unimpressive showing.
As stipulated in his contract, Addo exited the scene, although not with much applause and entered Hughton who also kept faith with the Ayews, a decision that appears to have made him a ‘persona non grata’.
But one may ask what crime the Ayews committed to warrant this level of condemnation and vilification from a majority of Ghanaian soccer fans.
If the narrative is not about why the coach kept Jordan in a game for the entire duration, then it will be why he brought on Andre because he was a mere passenger.
They have been the major subjects for discussions on several platforms and one even wonders where they get the motivation to still want to don the once glorious senior national team jersey.
In a sharp throwback to 2021 in Egypt, Andre was considered Ghana’s finest after leading a U-21 side to defeat Brazil in a FIFA World Cup to hand Ghana her only success in that age categorised championship.
That, obviously, fast-forwarded his smooth transition to the senior side where he bid his time and became the captain of the side.
Beyond the camp politicking fans only hear but lack evidence to confirm, the Ayews, in my view have paid their dues to Ghana football and must be treated with respect.
It appears Ghanaians have lost some of the magical moments Andre especially have had with Ghana at the FIFA World Cup, AFCON and some qualifying games.
The only problem of the Ayews, for me is the failure to watch the clock to know when to time themselves out. What Asamoah Gyan went through with fans at the latter parts of his career should have guided the Ayews to exit at the right moment.
It also teaches a lesson that no matter how sumptuous your football meal was in the past, fans will always go against you whenever it loses its taste.
But it is not too late. With their respective careers at an anti-climax, they can take a decision they feel will be in their interest and that of the nation in order to be absolved from the blame for the Black Stars downward spiral.
By Andrew Nortey
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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