The surge in abuse arising from witchcraft accusations in the country is on the ascendancy, prompting the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to call on Parliament to expedite the passage of the Anti-Witchcraft Bill.
This is not the first time CHRAJ is urging the government to pass the bill, following its earlier call on former President William Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to do same. It had also said earlier this year that it was going to engage the government to pass the document.
The Commission has reemphasised the need to protect the lives of the vulnerable in society, particularly women and children, who usually become victims of such accusations.
According to CHRAJ, the passage of the bill will go beyond the protection of human lives to reinforcing the country’s commitment to upholding human rights, dignity, and the rule of law.
At a forum on Wednesday, July 24, 2025, to mark the five year anniversary of the gruesome killing of Akua Denteh, a woman accused of witchcraft in the Northern region, Commissioner of CHRAJ, Joseph Akanjolenur Whittal, expressed the need to expedite the passage to protect lives.
He urged that the bill should be passed quickly for those with challenges to seek redress at the Supreme Court.
“The bill is long overdue,” Mr. Whittal stated. “Why don’t you allow the bill to pass, and then anybody who thinks there is a basis for challenging it can take it to the Supreme Court? We now have another President who, interestingly, comes from the very region where most of these witchcraft accusations are reported.”
The renewed call, coming amid the fifth anniversary of the woman’s lynching, comes on the back of a surge in witchcraft-related abuses in rural communities.
On July 22, an alarming case was reported in Anhwiesu, a community in the Central Region, where an 11-year-old girl and three elderly women were accused of engaging in spiritual attacks. The girl, a class six pupil, was allegedly accused by a classmate who claimed to possess spiritual powers.
The accuser claimed the girl had spiritually “tied” two other pupils and conspired with three older women to harm a teacher.
Community elders responded by organising a public exorcism, inviting a fetish priest who declared that he had seen the girl’s supposed spiritual actions. While the girl was forced to participate in the ceremony, the three elderly women refused and insisted they had no involvement in any spiritual practices.
Earlier, on July 15, police in the Bunkpurugu Yonyoo District of the North East Region arrested four individuals in connection with the murder of a 70-year-old woman accused of being a witch.
According to police, the suspects fled the Sangbana village after the killing but were later apprehended at separate hideouts through intelligence-led operations. Several other suspects are still on the run.
These incidents, CHRAJ warns, are part of a disturbing pattern of violence that highlights the urgent need for legal protection against accusations of witchcraft, which often result in torture, ostracism, and death.
The Anti-Witchcraft Bill, officially known as the Criminal Offences (Amendment) Bill, 2023, was passed by Ghana’s Parliament in July 2023. The legislation seeks to modify the Criminal Offences Act, of 1960 (Acts 29) to outlaw the practice of witch doctoring or witch finding. It also forbids the act of declaring, accusing, naming, or labelling another individual as a witch.
This Private Member’s Bill was put forward by Francis-Xavier Kojo Sosu, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Madina, and other NDC MPs. The bill, which Parliament ratified on July 28, 2023, is viewed as a vital measure in tackling the perils associated with witch accusations.
Unfortunately, the bill was not assented to by former President William Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
Akufo-Addo had expressed concerns about potential financial impacts on the country’s consolidated fund, leading to his decision not to sign the bill.
Full Text: CHRAJ advises Akufo-Addo to sign anti-witchcraft bill
