The Parliament of Ghana must consider legislation against accusation of witchcraft as a means protecting the rights of vulnerable persons who are abused for such reasons.
This is the view advanced by a researcher in the area of harmful traditional practices, Professor John Azumah, the Executive Director of the Sanneh Institute.
According to him legislation with achieve two ends of deterring potential accusers whiles providing a legal framework for prosecuting offenders and seeking justice for victims.
He stressed that Parliament’s role will be part of a multi-stakeholder engagement needed to root out mistreatment of persons labeled as witches and subsequently confined to camps usually under dehumanizing conditions.
Other institutions he tasked to cue in on the issue included traditional authority, the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), civil society and non-governmental organizations, who he identified can help in educational campaigns against witchcraft accusations and other injurious cultural
practices.
“At the minimum, if local chiefs declare that accused persons who have gone through the rituals should be allowed to return to their families, they will enable victims to return home safely and if such declarations by chiefs are backed by local government officials, a safe environment will be
created so that most victims can return home,” added.
Prof Azuma’s Sanneh Institute shared results from a research work last week which reported that residents of five witch camps in the Northern and North East Regions were being sexually, verbally and emotionally abused whiles being exploited by being made to engage in forced labour.
The report worked with victims and caretakers in five witch camps in total whiles highlighting the baseless grounds on which most victims are dumped at these camps and admission by caretakers that most of the stated reasons were frivolous.
In February 2021 during her vetting in Parliament, Gender Minister, Sarah Adwoa Safo said she will work to rebrand witch camps and empower inhabitants with government interventions.
“If I am given the nod, what I will first do is to engage and visit some of the camps and engage these alleged witches. I will further engage the traditional authorities and opinion leaders in these areas to get a very clear picture of what indeed ought to be done.
