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Who ‘owns’ the front seat of a private vehicle …wife or mother?
Mr. Peter Tweneboah Mensah
The front seat of a private vehicle has been the centre of controversy in many homes. This seat, which is beside the driver’s seat has over the years created tension between people.
One of such is between mother-in-laws and wives who feel they are entitled to sit in front whenever the two occupy the vehicle.
For the mothers (in-laws) because the driver, who is most often also the owner of the vehicle, is their son they feel they must at all cost occupy the front seat to feel dignified because they toiled to make him who he is.
The wives on the other hand are of the opinion that since their husbands own the vehicle, they are co-owners and have the right to decide where they wish to sit.
It is not clear what exactly is on the front passenger seat of a vehicle to warrant such struggles and even subsequently create tension at home.
In an interaction with a Family Life and Marriage Counsellor, Mr Peter Tweneboah Mensah on Monday at Ashaiman, he said there was no need for any debate on the subject about who should sit by the driver.
“That seat is for the wife. If it is her husband’s vehicle, it means it also belongs to her so she should decide where to sit,” he said.
According to Mr Mensah, if the wife decides not to sit on the front passenger seat it is her decision so no one should feel entitled and even “fight” her over it.
He said driving in the same car creates an opportunity for couples to spend time together to discuss issues.
“If someone else is occupying the front seat how will the couple communicate effectively,?” he questioned.
“Does he have to keep turning his head to talk to his wife? The Bible says the two shall be one, so it applies in many areas and this is no exception.
No one should try to separate a couple,” he said.
If husbands explain their wives’ position clearly to their mothers, it would reduce unnecessary tensions in families.
The Family Life and Marriage Counsellor said wives must extend the same courtesies to their husbands when they drive.
“I prefer sitting in front to watch the road and alert my husband of any impending dangers when he is driving because he is often absent-minded. It is just for safety sake and not dominance as some people think,” Mrs Angela Manu, a wife said in an interview with The Spectator.
A mother, Madam Faustina Adjei whose three sons own vehicles said sitting in front of her sons vehicles when they are drive makes her feel fulfilled as a mother which she wishes no one takes away from her.
From Dzifa Tetteh Tay, Ashaiman
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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