Gender Ministry to shut down ‘Bonyase Witch Camp’ in the north

One of the six witch camps in the Northern Region of Ghana, Bonyase Witch Camp,will be formally closed on Monday, December 15, according to the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection.

This will “affirm the nation’s commitment to ending human rights abuses associated with witchcraft accusations”.

A statement from the Ministry says the process of disbanding the witch camp is being coordinated by Action Aid Ghana and its partners Songtaba, the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection as well as the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Traditional Affairs.

It adds that over 50 alleged witches will be reintegrated into communities of their choice, increasing the total number of reintegrated victims from 199 to 249 over the past year.

“Even after passing the Domestic Violence Act (Act 732) in 2007 and the Mental Health Act (Act 846) in 2012, Ghana has the unenviable record of being the only country in the world that has witch camps where alleged witches, mostly older women, are kept”.

There are six of such camps in the Northern Region: Kukuo, Gnani-Tindang, Kpatinga,Nabuli, Gambaga and the Bonyase camps. Altogether, the inmates number about 681, most of whom are poor and vulnerable old women between the ages of 60 and 70 years.

The Gnani-Tindang camp has 42 male inmates, accounting for 19.6% of the total population of the camp.

The conditions in the camps are “deplorable” where potable water and food remain unaffordable luxuries, the statement further adds

The Gender Ministry will therefore host a conference in Accra on Wednesday, December 10 to draw attention to some of the most vulnerable and prosecuted individuals in Ghana who have fallen victim to witchcraft accusations

Under the theme “Protecting the Vulnerable: Witchcraft Accusations and Human Rights Abuse in Ghana”, it is anticipated that the conference will garner public support in ending the practice.

“Government and other stakeholders will continue to work to ensure the full and total liberation of alleged witches in all the camps.”