Ghanaian organisations have mobilised in recent months to prevent the privatisation of their country's urban water supply system. They have formed the Coalition Against the Privatisation of Water in Ghana which argues that the privatisation package is a bad deal both technically and financially. It says the reforms are largely imposed by external interests led by the World Bank and the IMF, which have imposed tough conditions.

Ghana's parliament has extended by six weeks the state emergency imposed in the northern Dagbon traditional area, where fighting between two clans last week left a traditional ruler and 28 other people dead.

Institute of Cultural Affairs Ghana and ICA,UK are carrying out this two-week training course that will:
* Equip participants with the practical group facilitation methods developed and practised globally by ICA over the past 30 years
* clarify the role of the facilitator in the participatory process, and explore skills, techniques and styles to manage different groups in different situations
* Enable participants to design, conduct and follow up on participatory processes
* Provide an opportunity to network with facilitators from a variety of African countries.

As the Ghanaian adage goes, if the electric fish announces that the crocodile has been taken ill, there is no point in contesting the matter. Similarly, the public declaration that the Judicial Service is saddled with corruption by no less a person than the Chief Justice puts the matter beyond any reasonable doubt.

The Women-Refuge Of Africa (WORA) is condemning in no uncertain terms the recent spate of murders of women in their own homes where they are suppose to be safest, by men who are supposed to defend them from such acts.

Ghana's creditors have agreed to write off 3.7 billion dollars of the country's external debt servicing on condition the government in Accra follow World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) prescriptions for economic restructuring.

HON. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development has reiterated the determination of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) government's position to vigorously combat and weed out corruption in every sector of the Ghanaian society.

ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, is meeting in Ghana in March. African companies should send representatives - details at the ICANN web site.

Mr. Hackman Owusu-Agyeman, Minister for Foreign Affairs, has issued a hotline service number to Ghanaians for use when they encounter difficulties in acquiring passports.

The General Manager of the Ghana News Agency, Mr Robert Kafui Johnson has dismissed alleged corruption charges made against him by a former employee and emphasised that he did not engage in corrupt practices.

Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Minister of Finance, has said Ghana might reach the decision point on the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative by the end of the first quarter of this year. "I cannot speak for them, but signals from benefactors indicate that decision point may be reached by the end of March," he said in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra.

PRESIDENT J. A. Kufuor has given hints of a possible overhaul of the education system to meet the developmental needs of the country. He has announced his government's determination to bridge the huge gap between well-endowed schools and the less-endowed ones by the end of his term of office as part of measures to correct the existing defects.

The newly inaugurated National Advisory Committee of the Ghana Accountability Improves Trust is to facilitate government's responsiveness to citizens at the local level and promote accountability and transparency in district assemblies.

The Managing Director of the Kumasi Abattoir Company, Mr. Kwadwo Agenim-Boateng, has been exonerated from allegations of corruption leveled against him by the Administrative Manager of the Company, Mr. Maxwell Awuian after investigations carried out by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).

Mr. Nutifafa Kuenyehia, Chairman, National Media Commission (NMC), on Tuesday launched a thirty-page report on the role played by the media in its coverage of Election 2000.

This week sees the opening of BusyInternet’s first technology development centre in Accra. The company’s founder Mark Davies has ambitious plans to open a network of technology development centres based upon the same business model across the continent. He has found a young and energetic management team and attracted investors into the project. The Accra opening will be the test case. Russell Southwood describes how the company wants to build something more than just "bricks and mortar".

The World Food Programme (WFP) is to provide 482,000 Ghanaians with food aid through 2005 to support efforts to reduce poverty in Ghana, the UN agency announced on Wednesday.

The password is " Zero Tolerance for Corruption" and suddenly everyone is telling everyone how to be corrigible. The opposition NDC who are coming out as if they have never faulted in life before head the crusade. Some living angels. Of late, they have been coming out loudly on moral issues.

Ghana is developing plans to produce generic versions of antiretroviral drugs, Reuters reports.

An assessment of Ghana's Poverty Reduction Strategy process (GPRS) suggests there is much potential for formulating, in a participatory manner, an effective poverty reduction strategy. However, there is no guarantee that this will be realised.