witches camps in Ghana

01-06-11                        NEWS COMMENTARY                PLEASE STOP THIS

ANN: News Commentary today makes a case for the abolition of all witch camps in the

          Country and the need desist from muting all forms inhuman treatment to the

          Perceived witches. The script is written by George Asekere of GBC Radio

          Newsroom in Accra. His script is read by…….

        LIB.FILE: PLEASE STOP THIS                                                      DUR(       )

       CUE IN: In his letter…

       CUE OUT…those they accuse

ANN: Commentary stressed the need to end all forms of inhuman treatment against

          Perceived witches. The writer was George Asekere of GBC Radio Newsroom

          In Accra. His script was read by….

   

         

REPORT

In his letter to the Christians in Ephesus, the apostle Paul is quoted by the Holy Bible as saying; we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Bible scholars, traditionalists, anthropologists and the religious all admit that these forces, jointly called rulers of the darkness of this world, include witchcraft. Indeed, witchcraft comes into mind when a name like Jezebel mentioned in the Bible is recalled. Quaranically scholars have talked about the Jew, Labeed ibn-A’sam, who directed witcraft against the Prophet Mohammed, a saheed hadeeth which was narrated by al-Bukhaari. Writing about witches and wizards, the popular occult grandmaster who is now an apostle of Jesus, Iyke Nathan Uzorma, describes witchcraft as human agent of darkness. Any human being of the metaphysical, psychic, ocultic or esoteric recognition, who in one way or the other, directly or indirectly harm, ruin, control, dominate, manipulate or hypnotize another human being is a witch. Many Ghanaians believe witchcraft is real and can be destructive. This non-empirical, intuitive and stone age-like mentality, which have no justification in the today’s scientific world, are unfortunately the bane behind the inhuman and barbaric treatment that are meted out to people perceived to be witches. It is embarrassing, that in the midst of Christianity and Islam, and the claim that rule of law is supreme in Ghana, as many as over 966 women and six hundred and seven children are detained in three out of the six witch camps in the northern region of Ghana. These are Ngani witches camp in Yendi, the Kukuo witches camp at Bimbila and the famous Gambaga witches camp at Gambaga.  Unfortunately the Ghanaian media have only highlighted the plight of witches in the northern part of the country as though it were a deliberate attempt to paint a dark picture of virtually everything in the north. In a shocking investigative report, titled killing the witches, Manase Azure Awuni, exposed the pathetic story of how some witches were beaten, vilified and locked at homes in the national capital, Accra. The story of the 72-year old woman, who was burnt by fire by five adults in for allegedly being a witch in the industrial city of Tema, also in the national capital, is still fresh in our memories. Beside, the police in Takoradi made public the story of the couple Kwaku Badu and Elizabeth Coomson who kept their nine year old son indoors until his death on the orders of a spiritualist that the boy was possessed by witchcraft. The list is endless with prayer camps seemingly playing a domineering role. Without attempting to endorse the purported acts or operations of witchcraft, it is only fair that in the absence of any authentic proofs all human beings be treated fairly. In many instances perpetrators of these demonic acts against the perceived witches’ claim that the victims confessed to having committed typically witchcraft related acts including killing. In virtually all cases, alleged witches, apart from being beaten mercilessly, are forced to drink unhealthy herbal concoctions to prove their innocence most of which are injurious to their health. In any case there is scientific evidence that some people who profess to be speaking with the devil or hearing voices of others including voices of the dead are simply hallucinating. Science has proved that there are many psychological disorders that manifest on people especially at the menopausal or old age that make sufferers to sometimes  behave in ways that the typically uneducated African may attribute to witchcraft yet there is no correlation between the two. Our elders who are the custodians of culture and wisdom have argued that before the birth of kings there were elders. Yes, but the question is for how long will we continue to walk on the fundamental human rights of these so called witches most of whom are either from very poor homes or are very old in the name of culture? The 1992 constitution makes it clear that no one is guilty unless otherwise proved guilty by a competent court. Article one clause two state that this constitution shall be the supreme law of Ghana and any other law found to be inconsistent with any provision of the constitution shall to the extent of the inconsistency, be void. It is therefore criminal for anyone to hide behind culture and religion to infringe on the right of another under the pretext of witchcraft. Article 41(d) which falls under the directive principles of state policy enjoins every citizen to respect the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of others and generally to refrain from doing acts detrimental to the welfare of other persons. Certainly the rights of some people have been grossly abused, in the name of witchcraft, and the time to end it is now. One is therefore making a passionate appeal to president John Atta Mills personally intervene and ensure the immediate closure of all witch camps in the country. We all own it a duty to pray for the souls of all the innocent people who have died sorrowfully through accusation of witchcraft but can not allow the rest to follow suit. It is true that many of the accused may have committed demonic acts with witchcraft. It is also true that many have been falsefully accused and are suffering for accusations they have no knowledge of. Again under the laws of Ghana, It is advisable to set many suspects free than to convict one innocent person. Unfortunately the pain muted out to the deceased  cannot be reversed and this makes the plight of these so called witches very disturbing. Let us jointly fight for the release of these accused witches bearing in mind that the people who appoint accusing fingers sometimes turnout to be guiltier than those they accuse.

GBC/GIA                                                END