Nana Kwaku Bonsam And Others Speak About Sakawa And The Need For The Govt Intervention

Nana Kwaku Bonsam and 2 executives of 2 US based non-profits, the International Center for African Culture and Arts, the OBAATANPA House of Hope have called on the Ghanaian government to put special structures in place in a way to give an indirect check and balance on the works of all spiritual miracle workers, centres and prayer camps in the country.

Nana Kwaku Bonsam ,Nana Akosua Okukuranpon Baakan Yirenkyiwa, and Dr. Kwabena Akyampong made the call during a meeting in Brooklyn, New York in response to a news report in the Daily Graphic about two young men who met their untimely death following their quest for expedited wealth gains.

They said the executives of the NGO and other stake holders are concerned about the trend of abuse of human rights some leading to fatalities and tragedies which needs some timely interventions. In analyzing the problems from the story which is culled from the Daily Graphic for your perusal, the CEOs noticed that there should be a national registry maintained by those religious and spiritual groups themselves and each member assigned an Identifiable number. They suggested that all billboards and special signs advertising such services should carry the ID numbers on top of them to make it visible for potential clients to decide on which shrine/clinic or player camp to visit. This they said, such a programme not instantly solve the problem but it will put a check on some of the fake activities of those who are not registered.

Here is the tragic Sakawa story:
"A 27-year-old fetish priest has been arrested for allegedly butchering two senior high school (SHS) students and severely injuring another in the bush at Kwahu-Atwidie in the Eastern Region.

The deceased have been identified as Michael Ofori Agyapong, a 21-year-old student of the Kwahu Ridge SHS, and Joseph Nyame, also a student.

The name of the third student who survived the attack has been given as Kojo Anane, alias Emmanuel Oti, 21, a student of the Nglesie Amanfrom SHS at Kasoa, near Accra

The students had approached the suspect, Kwabena Oduro, alias Efo, at his shrine at Kwahu-Atwidie in the Kwahu West municipality on February 13, 2013 to double their GH¢1,800 for them.

But, according to the acting Eastern Regional Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Mr James Abass Abaah, the suspect allegedly gave the students some concoction to drink, after which they became unconscious.

Oduro then inflicted machete wounds on the students, leading to the death of two of them.

Afterwards, he took the money, laptops, schoolbags and ID cards of the students and fled to Ziofe in the Volta Region.

The third student, Anane, who sustained serious injuries, managed to escape from the bush.

Anane was seen by some residents of Kwahu-Atwidie who rushed him to the Atibie Government Hospital, from where he was transferred to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) for further attention.

He gave directions to some of the residents of Kwahu-Atwidie to where the incident had taken place.

The residents rushed to the bush and found the bodies of the two students, after which they reported the matter to the police.

Briefing the press in Koforidua yesterday, Mr Abaah said luck eluded the fetish priest when the police arrested him at Zoife upon a tip off.

ACP Abaas expressed deep worry over the increasing rate of nefarious activities on the part of fetish priests in the Eastern Region, citing the rampant erection of signposts and billboards advertising the activities of fetish priests in the area.

“These signposts that belong to various shrines promise success, quick riches and powers that often lead to death,” he stated, and cited the recent arrest of a number of fetish priests over the alleged murder of some schoolchildren at Mampong-Nkwata, near Koforidua, and Akyem Anum Apapam.

“We want to discourage people from visiting these shrines, as most of them are not up to what they promise,” ACP Abaas stated."

Source: Daily Graphic Ghana