By Fatima Anafu-Astanga
Bolgatanga, Sept 6 GNA – Mr John Nkaw, the Country Director (CD) of ActionAid Ghana, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) has reiterated that the President’s delay in assenting to the anti-witchcraft bill means more women and aged stand in the queue to be accused as witches.
He said government’s inaction to the anti-witchcraft bill was unfortunate, considering the level of work that had gone into the development and formation of the bill since Parliamentarians and a cross section of Civil Society Organizations, (CSOs) contributed to it.
He made the statement in an interview with the GNA in response to conversations and reports of stigma and molestations of children and women living in witches’ camps situated in Northern parts of the Country.
Speaking on challenges at such camps, he stated that delivery of social services, access to quality education and health were problems the accused women and their children faced and feared more women stood to suffer psychological, physical and emotional abuse.
He said children living at the camps were denied social services and stigmatized, forcing some to drop out of school while others remained traumatized.
“If you conduct research on daily basis in what alleged witches face at the camps, you will understand that it is a gross violation of their fundamental human rights, therefore it is a priority for government to look at it”, he urged.
He said ActionAid Ghana and its development partners had played a pivotal role in supporting parliament by way of creating the linkages and information flow and support for research for parliamentarians, leading to the promulgation of the bill.
On whether government was doing enough in protecting the rights of the people at the camps, he said failure of government to assent to the bill might also mean that government had not concluded its analysis in understanding of alleged witchcraft accusations and molestation as a priority issue.
“We don’t believe that government has entirely closed the chapter on the development and formulation or assenting to the bill hence we are still calling on the President to reconsider assenting to the bill because of the human rights violation and deprivation”.
In finding ways to reducing stigmatization of the inmates, he said AAG believed in disbandment of alleged witches camps and reintegration of the alleged witches into their communities of origin.
Mr Nkaw said where community entry processes failed to prepare their home communities to receive them, they could be given an option to stay but supported to engage in livelihood and enhancement activities to further their lives.
“Since 2010 the AAG has been working with the Ministry of Gender and Children, Social Protection and other allied agencies and CSOs and CHRAG, the Ghana Police Service and Traditional Authority to disband the Bonyaase witch camp in Northern Region. Meanwhile in 2020 the Nabuli Witches camp was disbanded leading to reintegration, where 600 people where reintegrated, so it is possible to disband other camps”, he said.
He also called on government to consider improving school infrastructure in communities that are housing alleged witches’ camps so that children can have access to quality education, with well trained teachers who will be counseled to deal with psychosocial problems the children may be facing.
GNA