Law against witchcraft must bite
Every country has certain cultural elements that show its uniqueness in an era of globalisation.
In Africa, where tribes and ethnicity are significant, the various peoples have peculiar elements that portray them as being different from each other, some of which are negative
In Ghana, one such practice is the belief in witchcraft, which makes people attribute happenings in the lives of people to it, sometimes even positive things and things that naturally should happen such as death, poverty and disease.
Even though the belief in witchcraft is strife across the country, the treatment of people accused of witchcraft is most inhumane and worrying in the northern regions of the country.
Unlike elsewhere in the country, some of these alleged witches in the north are beaten to death, others exiled from their communities and the rest sent to witch camps.
There are at least six witch camps in Ghana, housing approximately 1,000 women, often vulnerable, such as older women, single mothers, widows and unmarried women, in addition to their children and grandchildren
The camps are located in Bonyasi, Gambaga, Gnani, Kpatinga, Kukuo and Naabuli, all in northern Ghana.
Though the camps appear to be safe havens, life there is worse than being in slavery, as the women and the children hardly find food to eat every day and are stricken by extreme poverty because even if they have something to sell or service to provide, no one from the community would patronise it.
It means that the mere accusation of someone as a witch can consign that person and, in some cases, her children to a life of misery that can cause their premature death.
Against the background of the misery, we hail Parliament for passing the Criminal Offences (Amendment) Bill, 2022 to criminalise the accusation of witchcraft.
By this amendment, the practice by any person as a witch doctor or witch finder has also been outlawed.
Kudos to MP Francis-Xavier Sosu, for initiating the Private Members Bill followingthe lynching and subsequent death of 90-year-old Akua Denteh at Kafaba in the East Gonja Municipality in the Savannah Region on July 23, 2020 on accusation of being a witch.
Many thanks to the many co-sponsors of the Bill too.
We also take this opportunity to recognize Stephen Adom Kyei Duah, the founder and leader of Philadelphia Movement, a religious group, for vehemently condemning the accusation of witchcraft in the country and showing compassion to the so-called witches by his donation of clothes, cash, food and a vehicle to the Gambaga witch camp.
We believe President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will not waste time to assent to the bill to make it law so that offenders can be prosecuted by it.
It is our hope that anyone who flouts this law will be given the punishment befitting the magnitude of the crime to serve as a deterrent to others.
The belief in witchcraft in the country is deep-rooted so when the law is applied with kids’ gloves, it will be difficult to eradicate it and its associated misery.
It is our prayer that the law would come to free so-called witches and guard against future accusations of the vulnerable women and their children for them to live a life free from discrimination, one that makes them see their worth as humans and strive to realise their full potential for their own progress and in the process contribute to national development.
