Ghana Parliament Enact Law To Protect Witches And Wizards
ON Friday, Ghana’s parliament enacted a bill that makes it illegal to torture or expel witchcraft suspects.
This came after a 90-year-old woman was lynched in Kafaba, East Gonja Municipality, Savannah Region, in July 2020 – prompting local and international rights groups to call for the new law.
The woman’s savage beating and murder sparked outrage in sub-Saharan Africa, where witchcraft accusations are widespread in rural areas.
While it is not uncommon for people to be accused of witchcraft in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in rural communities, the woman’s death caused a public outcry due to the brutal way she was beaten and killed.
The new bill will also order the dismantling of makeshift camps where people shunned by their communities take refuge.
Around 500 people, mainly elderly women and children, live in five such camps in the North of the country, according to Amnesty International.
“The law will provide a legal framework to prosecute offenders… and give confidence to victims… to reintegrate into their communities and unite with their families,” Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi, the Chairman of the Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, said on the floor of Parliament.
President Nana Akufo-Addo will have to approve the bill for it to take effect.
Amnesty International’s country director hailed it as a win for Ghana and humanity.
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