The dangers that electronic waste or e-waste poses to Ghana’s environment and human health are real. It is clear and present danger that we ignore to our own peril. I raised the red flag in June last year with a version of this article which was published in the Daily Graphic, drawing attention to the looming health and environmental dangers of e-waste to Ghana. After that I wrote another version for the internet and titled it: ‘E-waste is killing Ghanaians slowly.’ And following my article, a US TV station CBS5 sent down award winning journalist Dana King to do a story on e-waste in Ghana. Chris Carroll also came down to Ghana to do a story on the problem for the National Geographic. And then last Friday April 10, 2008, Mike Anane an environmental journalist held a press conference to alert the nation over the dangers of e-waste that is confronting the country. I will be surprised if anything dramatic is done to address the problem. I am not being pessimistic, just stating the fact! This is Ghana. The Environmental Protection Agency, (EPA), does not seem to have a clue about the problem or they are simply incapable of handling it or they just don’t care. And I know because I have talked with them extensively about the problem and got nothing out of them. They simply told me as they do in all cases in this country until something terrible happens, that they are still drafting the policy. As a result of the interest last Friday’s press conference might have generated in the matter, I am publishing again an edited version of this article which appeared on this site in October 2007. While, there is presently no direct evidence to show that e-waste related diseases are increasing in Ghana, because no such study has been done, the scientific evidences available in other parts of the world, give the high probability that e-waste could be a large contributing factor to some illnesses in Ghana. Indeed, the issue of e-waste has not attracted any serious concern yet in Ghana and therefore, nothing is being done about it. Meanwhile, concerns about e-waste or computer waste are growing around the world, particularly in developed countries. However, in developing countries including Ghana the need to take a serious look at the issue of e-waste has not caught up yet. E-waste is the generic name for electronic or computer wastes. These are discarded electronics devices that come into the waste stream from several sources. They include gadgets like televisions, personal computers (PCs), telephones, air conditioners, cell phones, and electronic toys. The list can further be widened to include appliances such as lifts, refrigerators, washing machines, dryers, kitchen equipment or even aeroplanes. The problems posed by e-waste are becoming more challenging, because the increase in the quantity of e-waste in the system is largely due to the speed of technological advancement and innovation coupled by a high obsolete rate. And because of the very critical role of technology in social and economic development, the issue of e-waste has become a complicated one. Countries of the world are racing against each other in developing new technology, but technological advancement comes at some costs. Indeed, no nation can develop without technological know-how and expertise. And some of the costs technology leaves in its trail include e-wastes and associated consequences. These consequences reverberate in potential environmental as well as health hazards that put the globe at risk. Among industrial waste campaigners the world over, electronics equipment is one of the largest known sources of heavy metals, toxic materials and organic pollutants in city waste. Due to the speed at which technology is changing, people change their electronic equipment within short periods. In the US alone, an estimated 30 million computers are thrown out every year. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), of this number, only 14% are recycled. Available records show that by the end of 2004, over 314 million computers were obsolete and by the year 2007 the cumulative number of obsolete computers in the US is expected to rise to 500 million. Due to this rapid advancement, the average life-span of computers has shrunk to less than two years. For most people, the lure of new technology is so strong that, they would rather buy a new computer than upgrade an old one, and those PCs that can not be upgraded add up to the waste pile. Another estimate suggests that by 2010, 100 million cell phones and 300 million PCs will end up on the dumping site. Sadly, because accurate statistics are often hard to obtain in Ghana and in most cases figures do not exist, estimates of PCs in Ghana are not readily available. But there are now emerging evidences that Ghana has become a dumping ground for discarded electronics goods. Moreover, the rate at which electronic gadgets become obsolete in Ghana is not known, taking into account the fact that a good number of PCs and other electronics gadgets that are imported into the country are already old.