In Africa traditions permeate every aspect of life and are used to explain every phenomenon in day-to-day activities. However, this inimitable feature has been watered down and further pushed to the background by the influx of foreign religions such as Christianity and Islam, as well as modernity. Nevertheless, indigenous cultures survive as an undercurrent and recently the Indigenous Knowledge System (IKS) has been gaining prominence in the academia. In this paper taboos are classified and their role played in the governance system is analysed with the aim to raise awareness of the peculiar features of African traditional religions, with particular focus on the Akan of Ghana and their unique role in the local governance system.

Ghana spends a large number of its public resources on the acquisition of goods, works and services with most of them being sourced through Public Procurement. The country in its quest to ensure transparency and efficiency in its public transaction established the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) and clothed it with powers by an Act of Parliament to discharge the given responsibilities. However, since 2003 when the 4th Republican rule was instituted, not a single government regime has exited from office without recourse to irregularities associated with the procurement processes as reported by the Auditor General’s Annual Reports or reports by Civil Society Organisations (CSOs). The goal of this paper is to look at the consequences of these irregularities in the procurement process posed to Ghana’s development. The methodology used in carrying out this study centred mainly on secondary data, and some recommendations have been offered for consideration.

One phenomenon which has gained prominence in recent discussions in Ghana has been the role taboos play in addressing environmental degradation. While one group of researchers believes in the conservationist stance, others are of the view that traditional beliefs and practices could play a significant role in preserving the environment for future generations. In the Cape Coast Metropolis, taboos are part of the daily activities of its indigenes, however, the impact environmental taboos exercise, appears to have lessened in comparison with the traditional beliefs. This is probably due to the influence of science and modernity. This paper seeks to find out why the decline in observing environmental taboos amongst the people of Cape Coast is affecting the environment and leading to degradation. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches were used in the analysis. The targeted population were the people of Cape Coast in Ghana and some selected Non-Governmental Organizations which are involved in environmental protection. The study revealed that the people in the area still hold on to their traditions and culture and would not do anything which will have dire consequences on their lives should they break any taboos concerning their environment. In view of this, it is recommended that the local government laws be looked at again to have a fusion of both traditional norms and cultural laws as part of efforts to preserve the environment.

Traditional farmers are aware of crop genetic erosion and use various indigenous conservation methods in their farming systems to protect and sustain crop production. The objective of the study was to assess the indigenous conservation methods and practices for some selected crop genetic resources (CGRs) in the Kassena-Nankana and Bolgatanga areas of Ghana. Data was gathered with the aid of a questionnaire, secondary data and first-hand observations. The primary subject for the study were farmers. The study communities were selected by convenient sampling and based on key informants’ information. Two hundred farmers from ten communities each from Kassena-Nankana and Bolgatanga municipalities served as subjects in this study. The results revealed that, farmer’s choice of CGRs for cultivation was based on food preference, marketability, and early maturing crops among others. Maize, millet, rice and groundnut were the most cultivated crops in the two study areas making up 15-25%. In both areas, 52-65% of the farmers were males and 35-48% females. Use of preserved seeds as planting materials was practiced by 41-49% of farmers, 21-26% purchased their planting materials and 21-23% practiced a combination of the two. The indigenous conservation practices were pot preservation, bunch hanging, bottle preservation, sack preservation and local silos/barns. Methods employed to achieve CGRs conservation included the use of ashes from burnt plant residue and plant parts and plant extracts. The findings of the study revealed that some indigenous practices are moderately practiced by the farmers in the surveyed areas to ensure CGRs conservation and food security. Keywords: Conservation practices, Crop, Genetic resources, Farmers, Indigenous, Ghana

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