A judge in northern Ghana has sentenced a 70-year-old woman to five years in prison for violating a ban on circumcising girls, saying the tough sentence should deter an "outmoded custom." Ghana in 1994 outlawed the practice of cutting away parts of girls' sexual organs, but the long-held rite of passage has continued in parts of West Africa, mostly in rural areas where education campaigns are only beginning to reach largely illiterate and highly traditional populations. Prosecution is rare, throughout West Africa.

The Executive Secretary of Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), a local branch of Transparency International (TI), has revealed that the Ghana government failed to show up at the Mexican city of Merida to sign the United Nations Convention against corruption last month. According to the GII Executive Secretary, Mr. Daniel Batidam, the UN required every member country to be represented by top government executives such as the President, the Foreign Minister or the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice for the signing and possible ratification of the convention. In Ghana, the President had mandated the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Paapa Owusu Ankomah, to attend the ceremony and sign on behalf of Ghana.