Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, MP North Tongu
Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzato Ablakwa, has called on state authorities to immediately close all witch camps across the country.
He stated that it is an extreme embarrassment and national disgrace that Ghana still has witch camps across the country in this century and era.
The MP was emphatic that such activities are clearly discriminatory against elderly people who are vulnerable, particularly women with low financial status in society.
He urged Parliament and other state institutions in charge of the media to bring those who hide behind religious practices and deceive people in the name of religion to justice.
He made these remarks today in Parliament while responding to Ketu South MP Dzifa Abla Gomeshie’s statement on World Elder Abuse Awareness Day 2023.
Members on both sides of the House joined in condemning some cruel and uncivilised activities commonly directed at the elderly.
"You can see that this is clear discrimination against elderly people who are in the vulnerable category. Mr. Speaker, if you are elderly and you are rich, who has an inheritance her children can have, is never declared a witch. But once you are poor, once you don’t have any property, you are very vulnerable, then you are immediately classified as a witch, and you are thrown into witches’ camps.
"Mr. Speaker, this cannot continue. We cannot accept any cultural justification for that. And in doing so, we must call to order those who hide under religious practices; people go for prayers and then all of these charlatans false prophets, which the bible tells us will abound in the last days are in active practice, and they tell people that the grandmother is responsible for your woes. Mr. Speaker, we cannot accept this.”
He stressed that the existence of these witches’ camps represents a grave violation of the human rights of our senior citizens.
To him, the existence of these camps is a stain on Ghanaians’ conscience.
Nothing, he said, should prevent MPs from pursuing a Private Members Bill to completely abolish this practice and make witches’ camps illegal.
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