Songtaba, a women’s rights advocacy organisation, is pressing for the anti-witchcraft measure to be passed quickly
If approved, the measure will criminalise witchcraft allegations and associated acts in Ghana, among other things.
The appeal comes after two people were lynched in Zakpalsi, an agricultural village in the Northern Region’s Mion District, on suspicion of witchcraft.
Laminatu Adam, executive director of Songtaba, told Accra-based radio, Asaase Radio that passing the law will save lives.
“Last week, I was in the Ministry of Gender, where we were working to get the anti-witchcraft bill passed. So we’re collaborating with development partners on that,” Laminatu explained.
Meanwhile, in Accra, a pre-stakeholder engagement on an anti-witchcraft law has commenced as part of attempts to garner support for the bill’s approval by Parliament.
Director-general of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), Prof. Amin Alhassan stated this at a regional discussion on inclusive journalism for top media professionals and editors in Accra.
It was titled “Media Response to Conflict, Migration, and Minority Rights: Perspectives on Community Livelihood.”
It was coordinated with the help of the EU Commission by the Media Platform on Environment and Climate Change and Minority Rights Group International.
Thirty media professionals from Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Senegal are taking part in the roundtable discussion to increase their capacity for conflict prevention and resolution, root causes of conflicts, their consequences, and the situation of minority groups, migrants, and internally displaced persons (IDPs) as key elements in peacebuilding.
