Witch camps are settlements where women who have been accused of being witches can flee for safety in order to avoid lynching. The witch camps appear to be unique to Northern Ghana even though Ghana shares with other African countries a common belief in witchcraft.
Why are there accusations of witchcraft? In Africa and certainly in Ghana, everything has to be rationalized. They are not interested in the WHAT but the WHY. Everything must be explained, for that which cannot be explained results in uncertainty, so Africans naturally look at witchcraft for the unexplained.
The population of the witch camps is mostly women. The women are often vulnerable, such as widows, older women, unmarried women who do not fit the stereotype that the society sees as suitable. Communities often accuse women of witchcraft because they believe that they are guilty of conditions like bad weather, disease, livestock death, dementia, mental illness or appearing in another person’s dreams – circumstances which are beyond the accused’s control. Children occasionally accompany these women to the camp in order to protect them, but these children suffer greatly from discrimination, lack of access to education and insufficient food and water. Majority never see their families for fear of being accused and ostracized themselves. The accused are completely cut-off of familial ties. But when a victim dies, the family will show up to transport the body home for burial and funeral rites.
A person suspected of witchcraft is sent to a witch finder or traditional priest to undergo rituals to confirm who is a witch and exorcise the spirit of witchcraft. This is often a trial of ordeal. Some of the methods employed include but not limited to are:
Ø putting the hand
of the accused in boiling oil; if the person is harmed, he/she is a witch
Ø at Gambaga camp,
the accused, and the complainant both send a chicken to be sacrificed to the
gods; innocence or guilt is established by the final posture of the chicken
when it dies – a chicken that dies with its face down means the accused is
guilty of being a witch.
Ø putting a cord
around the neck of the accused; guilt or innocence is determined by the
position of the accused when she falls as the cord is pulled
Ø tossing a cola nut
in the air; again, depending on the way it falls, guilt or innocence is ascertained
Ø in some cases, the
accused are forced to drink a potentially fatal “cleansing concoction” that
include chicken blood and earth
More often than not, the alleged witches will admit to the crime just to save themselves from these trials.
Currently, there are five witch camps in Northern Ghana: Gnani Camp near Yendi, Kukuo Camp near Bimbilia, Gambaga Camp, Kpatinga Camp near Gushegu and the Gushegu Camp. Observers have relayed that conditions in the camps range from terrible to desperate. Churches, NGOs send aid from time to time, but these are not regular. The accommodation in Gushuego is good, thanks to the SVDs of the Roman Catholic Church. But victims have to feed themselves from spilled grains gathered from the ground in local markets.
Below are photos of the witch camp in Gushegu taken during our visit to the camp. A video of the song and dance presentation by the alleged witches for our group is also attached. In the video, you will see the Carmelite priests and I join them in solidarity.
The SVDs are presently seeking grants to help the victims of witchcraft accusation. The immediate goal is the education of the youth who are involved in the lynching activity instead of the relocation of these vulnerable women or the closure of the Gushegu Camp as proposed by the government. While the ultimate goal is to eliminate the need for the witches’ camp, it is crucial to first change the hearts and minds of people through education, understanding and inspiration towards the values they care about, i.e., the Ghanaians’ deeply held communal values of family and respect for the elderly.
“You can’t go back and change
the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.”
-C.S. Lewis
