The Parliament of Ghana has passed the long-awaited Bill to proscribe witchcraft
accusations, which seeks to criminalise the practice of declaring, accusing, naming, or
labelling people as witches. This comes after concerted efforts by numerous stakeholders
to combat the ongoing social menace of witchcraft accusations which primarily target poor,
older, and widowed women.
As today 23rd July 2023 marks exactly three years since Madam Akua Denteh was brutally lynched in Kafaba, the Coalition Against Witchcraft Accusation (CAWA) released a press statement on the conviction of Akua Denteh and the need to pass the Anti- Witchcraft Accusation Bill currently languishing in Parliament
Songtabawith funding support fromEMpower – The Emerging Markets Foundation Ltd implemented a 12 months project to support young entrepreneurs in business innovation and E-commerce in a post covid-19 era to make use of digital platforms to promote their business and increase profit margins.
As part of activities under the project a micro grants challenge was launched to support 20 young entrepreneurs with very innovative ideas. After a successful selection process, 20 innovative ideas have been selected to be supported with micro grants to implement these ideas.
The Regional Reintegration Committee calls for Justice for Mma Safura Imoro and Mba Cherefo accused of Witchraft and lynched at Zakpalsi community in the Mion District of the Northern Region
We the members of the Northern Regional Reintegration committee on Witchcraft Accusation and Disbandment of Allege Witches’ camps wish to condemn the lynching of Safura Imoro, a middle aged woman in her forties and Mba Cherefo, an elderly man in Zakpalsi in the Mion District of the Northern Region on suspicion of Witchcraft. It is unfortunate to learn that the two were lynched in the early hours of Sunday, 7th May, 2023. This is barbaric and an afront to Human Rights, especially as Ghana has signed onto a number of international human rights conventions including the CEDAW.
The particular worrying thing is that Mma Safura was killed at the forecourt of the Zakpalsi Naa Palace. She left behind 7 children, the last of which is only 3 years old.
This is a clear case of an alleged murder and there should not be any interference in order to give the police the space to do their investigations.
We wish to commend the police for their early visit to the scene in the community and urge them to press this through.
We collectively call on the police to act swiftly on this issue in order to bring the perpetrators to book and give justice to the victims and their families.
On this note, we appeal to traditional leaders to support the Police to give justice to the victims and their families whilst calling on Parliament to hasten the passage of the Anti-witchcraft bill into law.
We urge the general public to desist from taking the law into their hands.
The committee can confirm that the case was reported to the police at the Mion District.
Reintegration Committee Members: ActionAid, Songtaba, CHRAJ, DoVVSU, Department of Gender, Representatives of traditional and Religious leaders.
Songtaba hosted Plan International Canada CEO, Plan International Ghana country Director , Global Affairs Canada Board and Donors at Zugu Community in Kumbungu to interact with project partners including showcasing of project impact under the WVL (Women Voice and Leadership) project.
Stakeholder learning and sharing forum on the promoting women mental health rights in Ghana. The purpose of this forum is to take feed back and suggestions from stakeholders on implementation and sustainability measures.
Songtaba with funding support from Empower intends to create a business Ecosystem to provide training for young entrepreneurs and roll out a business finance challenge for interested young persons especially grants.
Interested persons can register via the link below and also send their concept note to [email protected]
With the kind support of Ghana Somubi DwumadieSongtaba is currently being hosted by the British High Commissioner to Ghana and the host of others including CHRAJ, Mental Health Authority, Ghana Health Service, Members of Parliament.
This round table discussion is to discuss the findings of a study conducted on the prevalence of depression and quality of life among women accused of witchcraft.
