All Because Of Poverty, For I Have Never Seen A Rich- Old Witch

The beating of the 90-year-old woman to death at Kafaba in the Savannah Region of Ghana saddens my heart a lot, for I never thought such a barbaric, cruel and heartless act can still happen in this 21st century. I have heard of stories where such things happened in the past because of ignorance and lawlessness. But for a community to kill a 90-year- old-woman in 2020, when everyone is worried about COVID 19 pandemic and its economic impact, they must still be in the 17th century.

She died because a fetish confirmed the suspicion of the people and declared her a witch, who has solely retarded the development of the community by ensuring it receives no rainfall. Wow, is this not interesting? How can the people even think that the late 90-year-old Grandma can prevent God from blessing the village with rains and prosperity?

Are they saying she had more power than God? Yet, her power could not stop/ prevent the people from killing her. And the most important question that keeps me awake is that why did she not use her witchcraft to become rich and died a poor old witch? Could poverty be related to witchcraft? I have never seen a rich-old witch, and all the people regarded as witches are always destitute and mostly old-women.

Most women accused of witchcraft are poor and miserable women who find it hard to make ends meet. The worry is that are they called witches because they are poor or they became witches due to poverty? Maybe poverty is to be blamed for what happened. Then again, who is responsible for taking care of the aged in Ghana? Who has to make sure women live a comfortable life till death? WHO IS RESPONSIBLE? I do not have all the answers, but I urge everyone to think about these questions carefully. The answers are related to the real solution to the current problem. Remember, the village people killed her because they are needy and she died because of poverty.

Poverty is the foundation of many other diseases in rural Africa and any other place with witch camps. Poverty causes blindness that prevents people from seeing the reality of issues. Others see any poor woman as a potential witch who will want to kill or destroy their lives. Poverty distorts rational thought and actions. People stay at home without doing any work, yet expect money to fall from the sky. Workers/businesses do not render their services to standard, yet they want to become rich with such bad business ethics.

Many have no financial and family plans and mostly rely and act on the adage that God will provide for the family. SO IF YOU CAN TRUST GOD TO PROVIDE FOR YOUR FAMILY WHILE YOU DO NOTHING ABOUT IT, WHY CAN`T YOU TRUST THE SAME GOD WITH WHATEVER IS HAPPENING WITH YOU INSTEAD OF BLAMING POOR OLD WOMEN. It is common and tempting to blame others instead of taking responsibility for one`s actions and inactions. However, if you want to find a practical solution to your problem, then you must see yourself as part of the problem to have control over it, for no one else will solve your problems for you while they have theirs.

Surprisingly, women have actively engaged in the killing of the 90-year-old. I hope those women become rich before they grow old. Because one of them might be the next witch, as witches are always the poor-old-women in the communities. Otherwise, if women are actively involved in destroying each other, the fight for equality will become more difficult. I hope women will begin to show more compassion, empathy, love, respect, acceptance, and support towards each other.

Poor women are neither evil nor bring bad luck. Ghana has laws that must be followed by every citizen, and everyone involved in the killing of the 90 years old-woman has to account for justice to prevail. For injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

   Comments0