Co-sponsor of the witchcraft bill, Godfred Seidu Jasaw says the bill does not hinder any religious group from practicing as professional witch hunters. However, the bill prevents them from declaring anyone as a witch.
According to him, the action of declaring people as witches has led to the killing of innocent old women in some parts of the country.
In an interview on Newsnight on JoyFM, to clarify the clause about who the bill describes as a professional witch hunter; he said “If you read the provisions of the bill in its entirety, there is actually no issue about who a professional witch hunter is. The wording of the bill says that someone who professes by using sorcery, black magic, and other related practices to be able to judge who a witch is falls into that category. So if you use any of those processes to be able to find who a witch is under the law you fall under a witch hunter.”
Mr Jasaw, who serves as a Member of Parliament for the Wa East constituency, explained that every Ghanaian is free to practice whichever religion they choose to, and that the bill would not dictate what is religiously accepted.
“But we say you must stop accusing anybody of being a witch. That, the law will not allow. Go ahead and practice but don’t accuse anybody.”
Mr Jasaw explained that he was motivated to push the bill because women in particularly were wrongly accused of being witches which has led to the death of some persons.
He mentioned the bill would rectify these accusations and preserve lives.
Tamale High Court on Tuesday, July 4 sentenced two women to 12 years imprisonment each for beating to death an old woman they accused of being a witch.
The convicts, Hajia Serena Mohammed, and Latifa Bumaye were convicted on each of the two counts of manslaughter, and the prison terms are to run concurrently.
On July 23, 2020, Akua Denteh, the 90-year-old woman, was murdered over witchcraft accusations.
The convicts attacked and killed her at Kafaba in the East Gonja Municipality of the Savannah Region.
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