The alleged attempt by a pastor to bury a five-year-old baby in the Atwima Mponua District of the Ashanti Region has brought back the conversation on ritual killings in Ghana and how to stop them.
Ritual murders have become a constant feature in Ghanaian society, with a number of people being caught either during attempts to kill persons, mostly close to them, or after successfully committing the act for financial or other benefit.
The most recent ritual killings that shook the country were perhaps the Wa ritual killings, where scores of people were killed and later found with parts of their bodies, mostly their genitals, missing, and the Kasoa ritual murder, where an 11-year-old boy was killed by two teenagers for financial benefits.
One of the ritual murders that most of the public have either forgotten about or do not know about was the killing of a pregnant woman in Abesim, a town in the Sunyani Municipal District in the Bono Region, in 1988.
The pregnant woman, whom multiple reports, including that of Ablade TV Online, have identified as 38-year-old Naa Lamle Sampa, was allegedly murdered by Nana Twene, the Krontihene of Abesim, who was also a Presbyterian church elder at that time.
The chief and his wife were arrested for scheming to kill the pregnant woman. After initial denials, he confessed to the crime after a third accomplice stepped forward and gave details of the murder.
He confessed that he murdered the woman for ritual purposes. He allegedly stated that he sought the blood and body parts of the pregnant woman to perform a powerful ritual that was believed to grant him unquestioned authority, enabling him to speak without challenge both in the palace and wherever he found himself.
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The case sparked public outrage in Abesim and across the country. The regional tribunal in Sunyani then heard the matter, and within days, a judgment was delivered.
The chief was sentenced to death by firing squad, while his wife was sentenced to life imprisonment, where she later died.
According to a report by graphic.com.gh, the Krontihene’s body was brought to Abesim. Soldiers of the then military government tied up the body behind a car and dragged it along the ground. Women and children reportedly followed the vehicle as they sang and danced.
In the year 2004, the family pleaded his innocence in a petition to then-President John Agyekum Kufuor, through the National Reconciliation Commission. The family members, who were reportedly children of the late chief, asked for the release of their father’s confiscated properties, insisting that he was innocent and accusing the regime of Jerry John Rawlings of not fully investigating the case.
The reports indicate that even though their petition was received, it was never acted upon.
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