Ghana: Witchcraft and Women

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Recommended: Contemporary African Witchcraft

Witchcraft is an age-less and complex phenomenon. Existing in almost every human culture and targeting mostly women, witchcraft has been used to both empower and oppress women throughout history. The present is no different. In many African countries, such as Ghana, witchcraft is widely accepted and feared. This had led to many issues for Ghanaian women, who once accused of witchcraft are subject to numerous abuses and mistreatments. Scholars, having long debated solutions to this issue, suggest outlawing anti-witchcraft practices and eradicating belief in witchcraft. Both of these solutions are unsatisfactory. In this paper I will explore the Ghanaian belief in witchcraft and the resulting social condition for women. Through a close look at the feminization of Ghanaian witchcraft we will discover that despite wide-spread mistreatment of women in the name of Ghanaian witchcraft, the proposed solutions, namely to reintroduce accused witches into society and to eradicate witchcraft beliefs, are ineffective and fail to address the real issues.
In the West, people generally do not believe in the power of witches or witchcraft. This is not the case in many African countries, like Ghana. Belief in the power of witches is so wide-spread that is treated like “a reality without any doubt.” However, Ghana is also a very diverse country. With at least 11 different languages and many differing ethnic groups , witchcraft can mean very different things as you move around the country. The following descriptions of Ghanaian witchcraft discourse are generalized, and care must be taken to assure clarity in the fact that they cannot be said to characterize all Ghanaians.
Although Ghana is largely Christian and Muslim, witchcraft beliefs, a centr...

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...Movements in Colonial Ghana, 1908-1927.” Journal of Religion in Africa 35 (2005): 139-158.

Dovlo, Elom. “Witchcraft in Contemporary Ghana.” In Imagining Evil: Witchcraft Beliefs and Accusations in Contemporary Africa, edited by Gerrie ter Haar, 67-92. Asmara, Eritrea: Africa World Press, Inc., 2007.

MacDougall, Claire. “Ghana Aims to Abolosh Witches’ Camps” The Christian Science Monitor. September 15, 2011. http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2011/0915/Ghana-aims-to-abolish-witches-camps.

World Factbook: Ghana. Washington D.C: Central Intelligence Agency. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gh.html

Haar, Gerrie ter. “Ghanaian Witchcraft Beliefs: A View from the Netherlands.” Imagining Evil: Witchcraft Beliefs and Accusations in Contemporary Africa, edited by Gerrie ter Haar, 93-112. Asmara, Eritrea: Africa World Press, Inc., 2007.

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