Ghana is highly respected as a country committed observing human rights issues, however, the lynching of a 90-year-old woman, Akua Dente on the allegation that she was a witch has raised concerns on Ghana’s human right status both home and abroad.
The rights of the old woman as enshrined in Section 17(2) and Article 59 in the 1992 Constitution of Ghana have been violated.
Section 17(2) prohibits discrimination on grounds of gender, ethnic origin, and social or economic status and Article 59 talks about protections of the dignity of all persons in the custody of the police including toucher or other inhuman treatments.
The Chairperson of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) of the United Nations, Ms Hilary Gbedemah, made these remarks at an emergency meeting held in Accra by the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, following the lynching of a 90-year-old woman, Akua Dente, on account that she was a witch, at Kafaba in the East Gonja Municipality of the Savannah Region.
She added that Akua Dente was also denied her rights in Article 31 of the Constitution which states that no person shall be deprived of her life unless convicted by a competent court of jurisdiction.
Ms Gbedemah said the case of Akua Dante was not the first case of a woman being lynched on account of being a “witch” and that some women were targeted because of their gender and poor economic status.
“These continue to happen because of the ineffectiveness of the enforcement of human rights’ laws and the absence of public education on these matters,” she added
She said the CEDAW 2014 report on Ghana raised these concerns but they persist and women are being accused of witchcraft, particularly in the northern parts of the country.
“We noted that nine out of ten women who were lynched were based on the allegation that they were “witch” a situation which has made some of these women seek refuge in so-called witches’ camps. In most often these women live under difficult conditions and lack access to adequate housing, sufficient food, water and sanitation,” Ms Gbedemah added.
She said based on the report, CEDAW called on Ghanaian authorities to swiftly close all the witches’ camps in the country so that these women could join their families.
“This recommendation was made to the government initially in 2006 and was repeated in 2016, we want a swift closure, but time has passed and the camps still exist,” she added.
Ishmael Batoma, ISD
