Fifty-five Gambaga "Witches" return home

Gambaga (Northern Region) 11 March '99

Fifty-five women alleged to be witches and living at the Gambaga 'witches' village have been re-united with their families under the "go home" project of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana to re-integrate them into society. They form part of 200 women banished to the Gambaga village by their relatives and communities on suspicion of being witches.

The Reverend. J.K. Wandusim, district pastor of the church, made this known on Wednesday when Reverend Robert Aboagye- Mensah, General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana, visited the village. Reverend Aboagye-Mensah's visit was to enable him to study the conditions of the village and to assess their needs for the Christian Council to determine its role in re-integrating the victims into society.

Reverend. Wandusim said under the project, social workers visit the victim's original home to console the family and community members to prepare them psychologically towards reuniting them with their relatives. After such counselling, the victims are encouraged to pay regular visits to the family to determine the level of acceptability before the necessary rituals are performed for the permanent reunion. Reverend. Wandusim said the women are granted loans to undertake economic activities to make them independent of their families. This also enables them to contribute financially to the well-being of other family members, a situation which makes them more acceptable. He said where any of the women has developed physiological problems like menopause, a social worker is assigned to help her to seek medical assistance.

Rev. Wandusim said the heart of the project is the Christian doctrine of forgiveness and reconciliation. "If the Church preaches reconciliation, then, it is part of its job to reconcile these unfortunate women with their families."