Accra, Ghana – President John Dramani Mahama has nominated veteran journalist and renowned Catholic communicator, Sir Benedict Batabe Assorow, as Ghana’s next Ambassador-Designate to the Vatican City State. Sir Assorow, who previously served as the Managing Editor of The Catholic Standard Newspaper, will replace Mrs. Satirieh Dorcas Ocran in the Holy See posting.
The nomination was officially communicated on July 21, 2025, in a letter signed by Dr. Callistus Mahama, Secretary to the President, following consultations with the Council of State. Sir Assorow’s appointment is part of a broader list of ambassadorial and high commissioner nominations, which includes Alhaji Abdul-Rahman Harruna Attah for Namibia, Kojo Choi for South Korea, Dr. Kwame Ampofo for Hungary, and Mona Helen Kabuki Quartey for Italy. Other nominees are Magnus Kofi Amoatey for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenneth Akibate for Burkina Faso, Said Saleh Sinare for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Paul Evans Aidoo for Kenya.
Sir Assorow’s distinguished career includes serving as Director of Communications for the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) and Executive Secretary of the Department of Social Communications at the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference (GCBC).
Globally, he was a member of the World Board of SIGNIS, the Catholic communications body, and was President of UNDA-Africa (now SIGNIS Africa). He also served as a Consultant to the Pontifical Council for Social Communications at the Vatican, now the Dicastery for Communications.
Additionally, he is a past Chairman of the Elections Committee of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) and represented the Association on the Boards of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation and the Graphic Communications Group Ltd.
An alumnus of the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ), Sir Assorow studied Radio Production in London, German and International Relations at the University of Vienna, and completed his postgraduate education at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. In 2006, he was honored by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI with a knighthood in the Order of St. Gregory the Great, a high papal honor for lay Catholics.
Ruth Abla ADJORLOLO
