Abolishing Witches Camps In Ghana

Worldwide the belief in witchcraft and its associated witch hunting is found in many cultures. The average Ghanaian believes in witchcraft and he tends to blame the devil or witchcraft for almost every calamity and sickness that befalls him. But it can neither be proven scientifically nor adduce in a competent court of jurisdiction. In all societies in Ghana witchcraft or wizardry is an abomination and anybody who confesses to it either under duress or voluntarily is seen as a social misfit and should be treated as such. In the Western world however, witchcraft, sorcerer and magic are used as sources of entertainment. The Harry Porter movie series attest to this. People are even enrolled into universities to pursue a Bachelor Degree in witchcraft in the Western World. Can you imagine a university in Ghana offering such a programme and how Ghanaians will view the academic board and the Vice Chancellor for instituting such a programme?

For several years the Northern Region of Ghana has being in the news on the issue of inhuman treatments that has being meted out to people; especially women who have being allegedly accused of witchcraft and have being banished from their homes, towns or villages and confined to “Witches Camps”. Currently we have about six witches camp in the Northern Region, namely: Kukuo “Witches Camp” in Bimbila, Gnani “Witches Camp” in Yendi, the notorious Gambaga “Witches Camp” in Gambaga, Bonyase, Katinga and Nabule “Witches Camp” in Gushegu. The concept of “Witches Home or Camp” may be cultural but it has outlived its relevance and is dehumanizing in this modern times. No cultural norm or rules of any ethnic group is above the constitution of the Republic of Ghana, which stipulates in Article 17 (1 and 2) that: “All persons shall be equal before the law. A person shall not be discriminated against on grounds of gender, race, colour, ethnic origin, religion, creed or social or economic status.” For people in the name of culture or tradition to maltreat their fellow human beings and banish them from their towns is a clear violation of the 1992 constitution of Ghana which has to be condemned in no uncertain terms, and the law enforcement agencies must institute criminal prosecutions against the suspects. Most of these people who have being banished from their societies are women hence the names of the camps as “Witches Camps or Witches Homes”. But we should not forget that women’s rights are also human rights. 

The Gnani “Witches Camp” alone has 945 inmates with an estimated 630 children of school going age who are virtually not schooling because their parents cannot afford to send them to school due to poverty. Those children from these “Witches Camps” who go to school are stigmatized by their colleagues, thinking they could harm them with their parents’ witchcraft. What future have we as a nation got for such children? Over the years there have been calls for the abolishment of these Witches Camps with some people being proponents while others opposed it. Many civil societies and women groups are still trumpeting for the disbanding of these Witches Camps in Ghana. The issue of disbanding witches home is a very complex one, how do you re-integrate these people who have being declared outcasts by their communities? We may do so at the expense of the lives of the very people we are trying to save, since their societies will not accept. Fresh in our memory is a very unfortunate incident in Tema in 2010 when a 72 year old lady lost her way and strayed into someone’s home, she was burnt alive and sent to her untimely grave by five adults who suspected her to be a witch, of which one of them happens to a pastor, who according to bible is to lead sinners to salvation. The case may still be pending in court but what action has the leadership of the pastor’s church taken? Hence maintaining the women in the “Witches Camps” will provide protection and fortification for them. Source

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