Problems of suspected witches

21/02/08
Article: Salome Donkor
The mere suspicion of witchcraft was enough for the youth of Gbarimani, a farming community in the Tolon/Kumbungu District of the Northern Region, to attempt to lynch a 52-year-old woman, Fati Adam.
She was dragged to the chief’s palace and held captive for three days without food, while being taken through some painful rituals to force her to confess.
The timely intervention of the police and the Northern Regional Co-ordinator of the Federation of International Women Lawyers (FIDA) helped to save the life of the woman, who had been branded a witch.
A report in the February 16, 2008 edition of the Daily Graphic, indicated that a detachment from the Northern Regional Police Command was attacked by some residents of the town when it went there to effect the arrest of two persons for allegedly molesting Adam Fati.
The irate youth also vandalised a vehicle belonging to FIDA which the police used to effect the arrest of the suspects.
The two persons, identified only as Alidu and Nantogma, were suspected to have molested Adam Fati, a mother of eight, who had been accused by the two of masterminding the death of her stepson through witchcraft.
She told the police that she was forcibly taken to the chief’s palace by Alidu, who together with his partner, placed some chains round her neck, manhandled her and asked her to confess to being behind the death of her stepson, but she pleaded innocence.
A number of such women in Ghana, mostly elderly and widowed, are living like refugees in witch camps in parts of the north, hiding from witch-hunters who beat torture, or kill them.
Belief in witchcraft remains widespread in some communities, where witch doctors are believed to wield great power in tribal societies.
In some cases, witchcraft offers an easy explanation as to why one person is successful and another is not.
Death, illness, dreams, superstition or even visible signs of success may be enough to provoke accusations of sorcery.
The fate of a suspected witch often hangs on the word of another and although such suspects deny the charge, they are still presumed guilty in view of the fact that witchcraft is virtually impossible to disprove.
Some victims are stoned or lynched. The "lucky" ones are sent, or escape, to "witches" camps.
The Wikipedia encyclopaedia says witchcraft in various historical, anthropological, religious and mythological contexts, is the use of certain kinds of supernatural or magical powers.
A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft. The Online Etymology Dictionary states that mythological witches are often supernatural creatures. Historically, many people have been accused of witchcraft, or have claimed to be witches.
The Encyclopaedia Britannica defines witchcraft as the human exercise of alleged supernatural powers for antisocial and evil purposes (so-called black magic). A female believed to have such powers may be called a witch or sorceress; the male counterpart being named wizard, sorcerer, or warlock.
Belief in witchcraft survives in modern technologically developed cultures and remains a potent factor in most illiterate societies.
Mrs Lucy Addo, the wife of a reverend minister in Accra, says witchcraft exists and it is practised by people whose bodies are used as channels by demonic spirits.
She said some people want the easy way out of life and go in for “powers” to make them spiritually stronger and by so doing, open themselves up to be used by the demonic spirit.
Such people are not ready to learn the word of God and are ignorant of the fact that all powers in heaven and on earth have been given to Jesus Christ and those who believe and follow him, also have such powers and need not fortify themselves with the powers of ‘darkness’.
Quoting from the scriptures, she said Jesus cast out demons, healed the sick and gave power to His disciples to trample on snakes and scorpions without any fear.
She, however, pointed out that often, accusations of witchcraft are made after family or neighbours misinterpret menopausal mood swings to mean a woman is possessed by demons.
Mrs Addo said most people in the society are generally ignorant of the signs exhibited by women in their menopause who tend to be very emotional, forget easily, talk too much and get angry easily.
Mr Yaw Osei, an evangelist, said evil power is real and witchcraft is the use of it.
He said witchcraft calls upon the powers of the devil, just as a believer prays and believes in the power of God.
“If you believe in God, and believe in what the Bible says, then you must believe in the powers of evil as well. You cannot take one side and then completely discount the other side”, he said.
Women in Ghana are recognised under law as having equal rights with men in all spheres of life.
From the legal perspective, the 1992 Constitution, which has clear provisions guaranteeing the fundamental human rights of all citizens, recognises equality of all persons before the law and prohibits discrimination on the grounds of sex, religion, etc.
Article 12 of the Constitution guarantees every person in Ghana fundamental rights and freedoms and Article 17 provides protection against discrimination and enjoins the state to take steps to end all forms of discrimination on grounds of gender, race, colour, ethnicity, religion and creed, social and economic status.
In addition to the Constitution, there are national laws which address the issues affecting particular segments of the population.
In relation to women, laws have been passed over the years to improve their situation. These include the Marriage Laws, Intestate Succession Law, PNDC Law 111 (1985), Customary Marriage and Divorce Registration Law, PNDC Law 112 (1985), and the Domestic Violence Act 732 (2007). Amendments of the criminal law, now contained in the consolidated Criminal Code have provisions to protect women from harmful traditional practices such as female genital mutilation and to broaden protection against sexual violence.
Ghana also has obligations under international human rights instruments such as the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on Social and Economic Rights and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), to protect the rights of vulnerable groups.
The state is also required under regional instruments such as the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the Declaration on the Disabled, to incorporate the provisions of these instruments into national laws.
In addition, there are commitments arising from various UN conferences on women. Examples are the 1985 Nairobi Forward Looking Strategies (NFLS), the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action (PfA) and the 2000 review of Beijing commitments, known as Beijing +5.
Furthermore, UN conferences such as the Vienna Human Rights Conference, the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) (1994), the Social Summit (1994), and more recently, the 2000 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have clear provisions for improving the status of women and promoting gender equality.
It is unfortunate that women continue to suffer various forms of discrimination in spite of these laws, and instruments, because of ignorance of women’s rights under the law and partly because of the poor performance of institutions tasked with legal education.
There is the need for sustained education on these laws and instruments by civil society groups and human rights organisations concerned with the rights of women, as well as the media, to reach more people with these laws to address some of these discriminatory practices against women.
Cultural practices which discriminate against women and prevent them from fulfilling themselves as full citizens of Ghana must change.