Elderly women tagged as witches are usually kept at 'witch camps' in Ghana
On the 24th of July 2020, we woke up to a sad video on social media which showed some residents of Kafaba in the East Gonja Municipality of the Savannah region lynching a 90-year-old woman for alleging she is a witch.
Since then, it has sparked a huge outreach on social media, civil society groups and even the first gentleman of the land to bring the perpetrators to book.
Many people have also called for the disbandment of witches’ camps in the Northern Regions. The debate of the closure of these witches’ camps have increased but I believe re-integrating these women into the society poses a problem. There are six known witch camps in the Northern Region and they include: Kukuo, Kpatinga, Gambaga, Bonyasi, Gnani and Nabuli.
Several of these camps date back to centuries ago and there has been increasing calls to shut them down.
In recent times, many civil society groups, NGOs, Human and Civil rights activists and religious organizations have called the practice of subjecting these women to harsh treatments in our communities as in-human and dehumanizing. Typically, in the northern region of Ghana, you will find out that those who are usually accused of witch craft are from poor backgrounds, aged, mostly women and thus have no one to defend them.
These women are driven away from their communities on the mere suspicion that they have either caused the death of one of their relatives or some other members of the community in which they are. These witches’ camps therefore serve as a safe haven for them since they have nowhere to go to.
Most of these places we refer to as witches’ camps are also communities in the township and due to the fact that they have been receiving elderly women over the past decades, we have come to refer to them as witch camps. These women live in isolation from members of the community with no one to take care of them. These women fend for themselves except in situations whereby some generous people come to give them food or water to drink.
Even though some of these women who accused of being witches find a safe haven in some of these communities, they are cut off from socialization with community members and also making of some decisions. The actual fact is, although they are believed to have their powers neutralized when they move into these safe havens, members of the community still regard them as witches which is still wrong.
It is worthy of note that the communities which some of these women relocate too also have their own problems in terms of social amenities and I wish the government will come to their aid.
To this end, the Executive Director of Songtaba, an NGO focused on the promotion of the rights of vulnerable groups with much emphasis on women and children, Hajia Lamnatu Adam has advocated for the implementation of policies to protect the rights of alleged witches in the region. Most of these NGOs dedicated to this cause have tried reintegration programs to send these women back to their community but members of the community in turn attack and drive these women back to these concentration camps.
These women are denied their basic rights and participation in decision making in this country just because someone somewhere has accused them of being a witch.
I believe that the way forward is for the government to partner with CSOs as well as some NGOs dedicated to this cause to improve the conditions of people in these communities and probably designate the term “elderly homes” to them. You will find out that most of the women in these areas complain bitterly of basic necessities and I believe we come together, we can be able to come to their aid and make their living conditions better.
I urge agencies like UKaid, USAID, DANIDA, the EU among others to continue partnering with CSOs and local NGOs in the region to improve the conditions of these women and get rid of the term “witch camps”. I also want to thank the Regional Police Department for the arrests they have made so far in relation to the case and hope they actually pay for the crime they have committed. While organizations are putting in efforts to better the lives of these women, we as citizens should also shun the attacks on these elderly women in our communities and educate one another to put an end to this mindset so that we can hopefully reintegrate them into our society which is necessary for the future.
I also believe it is necessary for some of these CSOs and NGOs to improve upon the housing of some of these elderly women in the witch camps. The rural communities in the Northern part of the country are mostly dominated by mud houses with thatch roofs and you will find just a few houses with aluminum roofing sheets. This situation gets worse for these women especially when it rains and the water leaks into the house. At times, the strong winds carry away their roofing materials and they often find it difficult to get someone to help them roof it again. Also, in the cases of some of these women, the houses they live in have very confined spaces to live in and are in a really deplorable state.
It is quite disheartening to find out that these mud houses can only contain the occupant of the house. It will be quite pleasing if some of these CSOs can actually come together to improve the sizes of these mud houses or even help build new housing infrastructure for women in these areas.
Finally, I would suggest the setting up of a foundation to cater for the welfare benefits and improve the quality of life of women and children who are accused of being witches in their localities. Monies from the foundation will help cater for their wellbeing by providing them with healthcare and practical support so as to ensure that they have a better elder hood. I hold the opinion that no woman should be made to suffer under some of the harsh conditions most of these women pass through when they grow old.
It is worthy of note that some of the NGOs only visit these witch camps whenever a donor wants to visit them or when they want to carry out a project there hence they do not know the condition and welfare of the women on ground. I will suggest that there be caretakers of these supposed witch camps who will be tasked with the responsibility of making regular, scheduled visits to these witch camps and to the health care needs of the women and attend to their needs as well as present their grievances to the NGOs and other authorities above.
I believe we can also incorporate a skills and training program for these women as part of our efforts to reintegrate them back to society. By doing this, I am positive it will bring dignity and hope to the women who are accused of being witches.
