Experts addressing a forum on corruption and good governance last Friday called on the Kufuor Administration to provide and disseminate anticorruption guidelines, especially with regard to gift giving and receiving.

Villages in the Wassa West District of Ghana's western region have been hit by the spillage of thousands of cubic metres of mine wastewater contaminated with cyanide and heavy metals. The cyanide-laced waste contaminated the River Asuman on October 16 when a tailings dam ruptured at a mine operation owned by the South African company, Goldfields Ltd.

This article from News Update 83 discusses the role of corporate culture in Ghanaian software - and other - organisations. It has some interesting comments on how ICTs are used and perceived in Ghana. Perhaps many of the observations that are true for this country are also relevant for other African states.

Ghana's President Kufuor has launched a new campaign, 'Life Choices', as a result of increasing population growth. Commenting on Ghana's greatest challenge, he said the current practice where families are not planned undermines the efforts to provide adequate health, housing, and employment for citizens.

The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufo-Addo is leading a nine member Ghanaian delegation to attend the 10th International Anti-Corruption Conference in Prague, The Czech Republic this weekend.

The Minister of Education, Prof. Christopher Ameyaw-Ekumfi, last weekend cautioned users of Information Technology (IT) to be circumspect on its use, the absence of which he said can have negative effects on the country.

AITEC GHANA and World Money Laundering Report have announced that the first All Africa Financial Crime Forum is to be held at the Accra International Conference Centre on March 18-21, 2002. This conference is expected to be opened by the President of Ghana His Excellency John Kuffour and will attract over 1000 delegates all over the World.

When Ghana’s new president, J.A. Kufuor, declared “zero tolerance for corruption” in his inaugural address, most Ghanaians welcomed the move. Yet public opinion appeared to have shifted when the policy claimed its first victim, the naive-looking, ever-smiling youth and sports minister, Mallam Isa.

In Ghana, the Ministry of Health, the School of Public Health and the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (both institutions within the University of Ghana) will work with the other Gates partners to develop an innovative training programme to contribute to capacity building within the national malaria control Programme. Following a needs assessment, training materials will be developed and targeted at the most needy groups. The Training Manager would therefore be required to co-ordinate tasks aimed across the full spectrum of health worker and community needs. In addition he will need to be capable of forming strong links with in-country partners and other relevant organisations.

The American model of addressing corruption in the public service may be useful to Ghana, says the Charge d'Affaires of the American embassy, Dennise Mathieu.

Mr Richard Aboagye, Amansie East District Chief Executive, has called for collaboration between government, religious bodies and organised groups in the fight against corruption.

One distinguished traditional ruler, Okyenhene or King of Akyem Abuakwa, Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin is championing biodiversity conservation to sustain and broaden exemplary tradition left by his forefathers and extend its benefits to all communities in Ghana.

A five-day seminar for military officers and public sector institutions has ended in Accra with the Deputy Minister of Defence, Mr. Eddie Akita presenting certificates to the participants.

A new public-private partnership in Ghana is launching the Mobile Telecentre To-Go (MTTG) to introduce information technology (IT) and the Internet to schools, health clinics, farms and local businesses.

When a Children’s Parliament debated on the current situation of children in Ghana in April, the President responded to their concerns by promising a commitment to education reforms with the implementation of a national policy for free, compulsory basic education and an expanded teacher training programme, as well as to urgent actions to halt child labour and fight child abuse. US$20,000 was raised at the launch event for a Children’s Fund in Ghana.
For more information contact: Madelon Cabooter at UNICEF.

Chocolate companies in the West are finally starting to wake up to the reality that child labour is being used on the cocoa plantations that supply the companies with the raw material to make their chocolate. Some key players in the U.S. and Britain are starting to make noise on the issue, although they have a long way to go.

About 40,000 people in and near Accra are still affected by floods that swept coastal Ghana in late June, a senior official of Ghana's National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) told IRIN on Friday.

Five people are reported dead and some 139,000 others have been affected by flooding and waterlogged conditions caused by recent downpours in Ghanaian coastal towns, including the capital Accra, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Monday. The southern districts of Adoagyir, Nsawam, Zongo, and the Odaw Channel have been the worst affected by the flooding, OCHA said.

Ghana has expressed readiness to send its troops as part of the "international protection force" to monitor peace in Burundi, Ghanaian defence minister, Kufuor Kwame, told journalists in Bujumbura on Wednesday. The country would send the troops "if the situation stabilised," Rwandan radio quoted him as saying.

Catholic Relief Services seeks a Regional Technical Advisor to provide technical assistance in the area of primary education and literacy to country programs; to maintain and/or improve the program quality of such programs; and to focus on the new area of academic and educational quality. Requires: Masters in education; minimum of 3-5 years overseas education experience; experience in primary education and food-assisted education preferred; familiarity with USAID systems and regulations; willingness to travel 30-40% of the time; proficiency in French and English.