FOUR persons, three women and a man, are likely to be banished from their communities in Tamale after a shrine claimed that they had used the powers of sorcery to harm some persons in Koblimahagu, a suburb of Tamale.
The four were among seven people who were accused of witchcraft and sent to a shrine in the Tolon-Kumbungu District, where they underwent rituals and declared guilty by the shrine.
The other three were exonerated.
The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has confirmed to the Daily Graphic that it is investigating the matter and has promised to safeguard the rights of any individual who is likely to be abused.
Last week, five women were accused of inflicting a strange disease on four young men in Koblimahagu leading to the death of one of them. The deceased has been identified as Fuseini Neindow.
The women were also accused of planning to harm eight more people. These allegations were made by a spiritualist, known as ‘Jinwara’, in local parlance.
The matter later took a different twist when it was revealed that three men had earlier been accused of being behind those mysterious occurrences.
One of the accused is a resident of Jakarayili, also in Tamale, and this led to a confrontation between the residents of Jakarayili and Koblimahagu.
When the matter was brought before the Dakpema, an influential traditional leader in Tamale, he directed that the accused persons be made to go through the rituals to prove their innocence.
On Saturday, the accused persons, together with their accusers, were taken to the shrine by some elders from the Dakpema and Koblimahagu Chief’s palace and other opinion leaders to prove their innocence as tradition demands.
According to the Public Relations Officer for the Dakpema, Mr Abass Salifu, the shrine found the four persons guilty of possessing witchcraft powers and using them to harm others.
When questioned about the fate of those four persons, he said no decision had been taken yet, but noted that “usually when such revelations are made, the people in the community would say they can no more live together with these persons and therefore demand that they are ostracised.”
Mr Salifu, however, said the Dakpema had cautioned members of the community against maltreating the alleged witches and wizards.
He has also asked that the chief of Koblimahagu take the next decision as to the way forward.
There are six “witches camps” located at Gnani in the Yendi Municipality, Kukuo in the Nanumba South District, Bonyansi in the Central Gonja District, Gambaga in the East Mamprusi District and Naboli and Kpatinga both in the Gushiegu District.
Since 2006, Songtaba, a non-governmental organisation, together with its partners has been playing leading roles of working in these camps with the aim of empowering the alleged witches to live dignified lives and enjoy their respective basic rights including participating in the decision-making process in a violence-free environment.
The organisation, in collabora-tion with ActionAid Ghana, has drawn up a programme to work closely with the various district assemblies in the Northern Region where witches camps are located to effectively help and respond to the concerns of the alleged witches.
Dubbed “Exit Plan and Sustainability Strategy” the programme will be implemented between now and 2015, to help build the confidence of the alleged witches, mostly women and children who are confined to the six witches camps in the Northern Region. The non-governmental organisations are Songtaba and ActionAid.
As part of the programme, the two organisations will increase awareness of the women on their rights, as well as co-ordinate with the district assemblies to set up responsive budget to meet the social needs of the inmates in the short to medium term.
The promotion of a violence-free environment for children staying in the camps, as well as enjoying rights to education devoid of stigmatisation, will also be enhanced under the plan.
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