Accused, shunned, exiled: The women banished to Ghana’s ‘witch camps’

Driven retired of their homes

Belief successful witchcraft is profoundly entrenched crossed Ghana, cutting done some agrarian and municipality life, explains John Azumah, the manager of the Sanneh Institute successful Accra, a probe centre, which has agelong supported survivors of witchcraft accusations and is portion of a conjugation pressing for ineligible and societal reform.

“It’s not conscionable a Ghanaian thing,” Azumah says. “Belief successful the supernatural is truthful almighty successful Africa. It’s precise beardown successful Nigeria, successful East Africa ... What is unsocial astir Ghana is the camps successful the north.”

Although accusations hap successful different parts of Ghana, women successful those areas are much apt to beryllium ostracised than banished. Meanwhile, successful the north, the accused are often sent to the “witch camps” that usually service arsenic their past refuge.

The camps are often located adjacent oregon wrong villages and are overseen by accepted priests oregon campy chiefs, typically appointed by colony leaders. The campy successful Gambaga is the oldest and astir well-known, but others beryllium successful Kukuo, Gnani, and Kpatinga.

Women, often elderly, widowed, oregon without beardown household protection, are astir often targeted, Azumah says. Many, too, are “the poorest of the poor”, helium added. Once accused, they are susceptible to mob violence, abandonment, oregon lifelong banishment.

Sometimes, the accusations person deadly consequences. In July 2020, 90-year-old Akua Denteh was lynched successful a nationalist marketplace aft being accused. Her brutal sidesplitting shocked the nation, and sparked calls for reform.

“It is unit against women - a demonisation of women,” Azumah says, explaining however witchcraft is not ever viewed arsenic inherently evil. Women accused of witchcraft are feared and condemned, portion men who are accused of it are thought to usage it for extortion oregon good, helium explains.

Almost immoderate misfortune tin beryllium interpreted arsenic grounds of witchcraft, says Azumah. “Sometimes radical are conscionable accusing others maliciously, oregon to get them retired of the mode for immoderate reason. It could beryllium fights implicit spot oregon farmland, oregon it could conscionable beryllium axenic jealousy, similar somebody's kid is doing good successful school.”

Once a pistillate is accused and sent to a camp, she whitethorn acquisition a accepted "trial", involving the slaughter of a chickenhearted oregon guinea fowl. "When the guinea fowl oregon chickenhearted is dying, the presumption of the assemblage determines the result [of the trial]," explains Alasan Shei, the accepted spiritual person who oversees the Gnani camp. "If it falls connected its backmost with the caput facing up, it means the pistillate has immoderate witchcraft. But if it lies look down, past she is innocent."

Yet adjacent erstwhile this ritual “proves” innocence, returning location is rare. For astir women, the accusation unsocial is capable to thrust them from their communities.

“Most often, the communities wherever the women are accused volition not beryllium acceptable to judge them back,” says Shei.