Flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress, John Dramani Mahama has shared his perspective on the concept of witchcraft and poverty.
As part of his remarks during his campaign tour, the former president explained that people often find a way to make sense of their problems by blaming it on supernatural forces, like witchcraft, which provide the tendency of failing to address the root causes of problems or take personal responsibility.
“Whenever there’s poverty and crisis, there’s an increase in witchcraft . Because people dont tend to take responsibilities for themselves. They must find someone to blame for adversity. And so if they are not able to find the opportunity, they are not able to satisfy their full potential and there is hunger and all that, they must find somebody to blame. And normally they will look for the most vulnerable person in the society. And these are the poor old women and accuse them of witchcraft. And so its a direct correlation to the increase in poverty. The increase in the accusations of witchcraft, he told the media during his tour ahead of the 2024 election.”
On Friday July 28 2023, Ghana’s parliament approved a bill designed to safeguard individuals accused of witchcraft, criminalizing their abuse or expulsion from communities.
This new legislation was proposed following the lynching of a 90-year-old woman in Kafaba, East Gonja Municipality, Savannah Region, in July 2020, which led to widespread condemnation from both local and international human rights organizations.
However president Akufo Addo is yet to assent to the proposed bill despite calls for concerned parties to do so.
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