Ghana’s witches’ camps: A situation of unmet mental health needs

Some of the women who stand accused of witchcraft seek solace in Witches Camps to escape violence - Photo Source: SONGTABA

In July 2020, Akua Denteh, a 90-year-old woman at Kafaba near Salaga in the Savannah region, met her untimely death after she was accused of being a witch by a priestess. She was dragged through the community by an angry mob, who subsequently lynched her.

This horrific event is sadly not a one off, as older women, and sometimes older men, who are accused of witchcraft, are at significant risk of harm. Misfortune in local communities, whether crop failure, injury, or death, can lead to witchcraft accusations.

Bereaved widows in particular, risk being accused of murdering their husbands for personal gain. A woman in this situation can be branded a witch, maltreated, with threats to her life.

I can still recall how my grandmother was branded a witch when her husband died. I was just six years old, but I can vividly remember what grandpa’s family did to her in order to take over all of the properties and ensure she gets nothing.

Often, when women are accused of witchcraft in Ghana, especially after the death of their husbands, the motive is to blame them of witchcraft because after this accusation is made, the widows are unable to fight for the properties, so the extended family takes control.

Such women are banished from their homes and communities. Those who refuse to leave risk being beaten to death by community members.

There are six witches’ camps in northern Ghana, including one at Gnani where a team from Ghana Somubi Dwumadie visited in July 2021. The team met a woman who had fled so quickly from her community, that she had no time to take any of her belongings; not even money or an ID. This made it hard for her to access services like healthcare. Many of the women at Gnani were facing a range of challenges accessing healthcare, including access to the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), many had expired cards. They were also facing challenges accessing mental health support, and social protection measures such as Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP).

Another well-known camp is the Gambaga witches’ camp which serves as a source of refuge to hundreds of women. A segregated community within Gambaga township in the north-east region, the camp was established in the 18th century to accommodate alleged witches who are banished from their communities.

Whilst at the camp, they cannot be harmed since they come under the protection of the chief who runs the place. They are safe from the attacks of vigilantes and in turn, they work on his farms for the provision of their basic necessities.

According to the chief executive officer of the Mental Health Authority (MHA), Professor Akwasi Osei, most of these women have unsupported mental health needs.

"When you are accused of witchcraft, it's a loss of dignity," Samata, a woman accused of witchcraft said in the documentary Ghana’s Witch Camps: Widows’ Lives in exile. She added "And to be honest I just feel like ending my own life."

Meanwhile, it is not only older women who are accused of witchcraft. Young, outspoken women of an eccentric nature also experience this fate.

According to Lamnatu Adam of the women’s rights group Songtaba, 

"Women who are accused of witchcraft do not only suffer physical violence but are psychologically distressed and many of them are unable to forget the trauma with their families, especially the girls! They have little support overcoming trauma and their wellbeing and dignity.

“Witchcraft accusation is a human rights violation, and we must all work together to stop it", she maintained.

Currently, Ghana Somubi Dwumadie is funding Songtaba to identify and address the mental health needs of women in six witches’ camps.

​​​​​​​The group was awarded a large grant in April 2021 to undertake a project that will deepen discussions on the gender dimension of mental health in Ghana and how it disproportionately affects women economically and socially. This is being done with special emphasis on women living in exclusion as alleged witches in the various witches’ camps. Songtaba intends to improve these women’s access to mental health services through this project.

Executive Director of BasicNeeds-Ghana, Peter Badimak Yaro, said “Getting accused, victimised and molested at your old age is the worst that can happen to anybody’s mother. The alleged witches deserve lots of respect for their motherhood and womanhood.”

He found it “Gratifying that the Ghana Somubi Dwumadie programme is providing grant funding for an initiative to address the mental health and psychosocial wellbeing of the women”.

Mr Yaro was confident that “This initiative will certainly contribute to shifting attitudes and practises for the betterment of the lot of these vulnerable and voiceless women”.

Article written by Dorcas Efe Mensah

Bibliography

Badoe, Y. (2010, November 25). The Guardian. Retrieved from theguardian.com: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/video/2010/nov/25/witches-gambaga-ghana

Duodu, S. (2020, Jul 24). Graphic Ghana. Retrieved from graphic.com.gh: https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/90-year-old-woman-accused-of-witchcraft-lynched-at-kafaba-near-salaga.html

Whitaker, K. (2012, September 1 ). BBC. Retrieved from bbc.com: https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-19437130