“Witches” will be reintegrated into society, says Gender Minister
VIDEO: Cynthia Morrison says her ministry will do everything in its power to ensure that women labelled as witches are accepted back by the communities that ostracised them
The Ministry of Gender and Social Protection has offered assurances that plans are far advanced to reintegrate women accused of being witches back into society.
The announcement follows the gruesome murder in the small town of Kafaba, Savannah Region, of a 90-year-old woman, Akua Denteh, in July. Over the weekend three other women were attacked in Sumpini, also in the Savannah Region.
Five people, including the chief of the area, have been arrested in connection with this latest incident. Two other suspects are still on the run.
Common practice
The sector minister, Cynthia Morrison, and members of the parliamentary select committee on gender and social protection have visited one of the witches’ camps, at Kpatinga in the Northern Region, to familiarise themselves with conditions there.
The visit, Morrison said, is just one measure in a longer consultation process which will lead to the drafting of legislation aiming to end the brutal assaults on women alleged to be witches, a phenomenon common to many parts of Ghana.
“So our main purpose is to interact with the fetish priest and our mothers,” Morrison said. “We have a few men here to interact with them and let them know the situation here and what we can do to shut their camp down and integrate them into society.”
She added: “The Ya Naa has given us his blessing. So, from here, we will go back to him, then we’ll sit down and dialogue. Our main purpose here is to see to the situation at hand.
“They are human beings and we deal with the vulnerable, so we are here to look at what they do.”
Getting back on track
The Gender Minister said the alleged witches will be provided with the support they need to help them start any venture that will help them earn a living after they have been reintegrated.
“We are thinking of putting them into groups. Let them do the shea butter; let them do the wools – whatever they know how to do best here.
“They are into farming: those who are strong enough to do farming, we’ll provide them with farm [crops], we will provide them with fertiliser – whatever they need to make their work fruitful,” she said.
Fred Dzakpata
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