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We’ll ease COVID-19 restrictions … if pandemic associated deaths reduce – President
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has appealed to the public to remain disciplined and adhere to the measures introduced by the government to fight the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
“The most effective method for us to deal with this virus is our own self discipline. The protocols of hygiene, social distancing, not shaking hands, protecting our selves, wearing the face masks…these are the short, medium and long term solution to the proliferation of the virus,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo said this when the chiefs and queen mothers of the Anlo Traditional Area in the Volta Region called on him at the Jubilee House in Accra yesterday.
He stressed the need to get the message of self discipline to everybody in the country so that everyone will be aware of the measures they need to take to protect themselves from the virus.
“If we adhere to these protocols, the hygiene, the social distancing, the washing of the hands and sanitisers, I’m confident that we will overcome this virus. But we need to work at it, and work at it together,” he said.
He entreated the public to always be on the guard and protect themselves and everyone around them against the outbreak of the pandemic.
President Akufo-Addo noted that the government will consider easing the restrictions imposed if the rate of deaths associated with the pandemic reduces.
“Fortunately for us, the number of people who have died from the disease is very small. Each death is unfortunate but nevertheless, the numbers in Ghana are small,” he said noting that the number of people in serious conditions is also very small.
“If it continues that way, then it gives us the opportunity to be looking at how we can ease many of the restrictions that is making life very difficult,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo pledged to construct a hospital and a police station for the people of Anlo and expressed gratitude to them for supporting his administration, especially in this COVID-19 crisis.
The leader of the delegation from Kome and Shime Traditional Area of Anlo, Togbui Kumasah Agbotadua, thanked the President for the recognition given to the people of the area with the creation of the Anloga District Assembly.
“We also thank you for giving us an indefatigable and hardworking son of ours as the Anloga District Chief Executive. Mr President we thank you very much,” he said.
He said the people of the area have faith in the leadership of President Akufo-Addo.
BY YAW KYEI
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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