Kukuo Witches Camp Women Cry Out: Restore Our LEAP Support or We Starve

Elderly women at the Kukuo Witches Camp in the Nanumba South District are appealing to the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection to intervene after they were reportedly removed from the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme during a recent nationwide reassessment.

The women say they have gone months without receiving LEAP payments, cutting off a critical lifeline that previously helped them buy food and meet basic needs.

Life remains harsh for many elderly women living in witches’ camps across Northern Ghana. Some were accused of witchcraft and forced out of their communities, while others were abandoned by their families. Today, they survive largely on the goodwill of individuals and charitable organisations.

For years, LEAP provided quarterly cash grants to vulnerable groups, including many women at Kukuo. But following the government’s 2025 reassessment exercise aimed at improving the programme and ensuring only qualified beneficiaries remained, residents say the outcome has left them worse off.

According to the women, several beneficiaries were removed, and no one at the camp has received payments for months.

“They used to give us LEAP support and it helped us a lot. But for some months now, we don’t know what is happening. The support no longer comes and life has been challenging for us. We are appealing for it to be restored,” one of the women told Citi News.

The Assembly Member for the Kukuo Electoral Area, Issah Abdul Aziz, urged the Gender Ministry to conduct a special re‑registration exercise for residents of witches’ camps to ensure no deserving beneficiary is excluded.

One organisation that has consistently supported the camp is the Songtaba Group, which regularly donates food and essential supplies. Its Executive Director, Hajia Lamnatu Adam, said such interventions have become necessary due to the extreme vulnerability of the women.

She also renewed her call on President John Dramani Mahama to assent to the Anti‑Witchcraft Bill once passed by Parliament, describing it as crucial for protecting the rights and dignity of vulnerable women.

Efforts by Citi News to obtain a response from the Department of Social Welfare in the Nanumba South District were unsuccessful.

— CitiNewsRoom