The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), in collaboration with Crossroads International of Canada, has organised series of workshops, sensitisation programmes and stakeholders’ engagement in the Northern and North East regions of the country.
The beneficiary communities are the Yendi Municipal, Nanumba South, Gushegu Municipal, and the alleged witches’ camps located at Kukuo, Gnani, Kpatinga and Gambaga in the two regions.
Addressing the inmates of the witches camp at Kukuo during a health screening exercise, Mr Lambert Luguniah, Senior Legal Officer and Head of International Cooperation at CHRAJ, said the activity was part of the Access to Justice project and being implemented with support of the Crossroads International (CI).
It was on the theme: “Access to justice project on gender-based violence against elderly women alleged as witches in Ghana”.
He said CHRAJ, with financial support from the CI, was registering all inmates of the alleged witches’ camps to enjoy the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
He said that formed part of the inmates’ rights to good health, which was in fulfilment of the recommendations of a baseline survey aimed at improving the living conditions of victims of witchcraft allegations living in the camps and ensure the promotion of their rights to health.
He said witchcraft accusations, especially in the Northern and North East regions, accounted for death sentences, torture, banishment of poor and innocent elderly women and their defendants, thereby denying them their rights to health care and means of livelihood, adding that CHRAJ was determined to stop the practice.
Mr Luguniah said the partnership had led to CHRAJ organising a trainer of trainers workshop for stakeholders, including traditional authorities, religious leaders, youth groups and women leaders on issues of sexual and gender-based violence, especially against elderly women accused of witchcraft and the role expected of them to halt the practice.
He advised the public to stop discriminating against women alleged as witches, urging traditional authorities to ensure and promote co-existence among the people under their jurisdiction.
He said with the Crossroads International support, CHRAJ conducted health screening exercise for all the inmates of the alleged witches’ camps to improve their health status by taking preventive care and avert the possibility of common but dreaded diseases.
