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Tamale, Ghana – Some four Municipal and District Assemblies in the Northern Region of Ghana have agreed to and adopted a set of by-laws to enable them fight dehumanising and injurious customary practices.
At a short meeting in Tamale involving all except the East Mamprusi Municipal Assembly authorities to sign the by-laws, Executive Director of children and women’s rights organisation Songtaba, Hajia Lamnatu Adam, commended the four MDAs for the bold decision they have taken to protect their citizens by the adoption of the by-laws.
In exercise of the powers conferred on the authorities of the Yendi Municipal Assembly, Gushiegu Municipal Assembly, East Mamprusi Municipal Assembly and the Nanumba South District Assembly, the by-laws are expected to deal with cases such as witchcraft accusations, child marriage, forced marriage and banishment and among others.
She urged the rest of the districts in the Northern Region to also try and adopt the by-laws to help curb the problem of witchcraft accusations and child marriages which impacts negatively on the socio-economic development of women and young girls.
With support from STAR-Ghana and funding from DANIDA, UKaid and the European Union, Songtaba since 2017 has been implementing a one-year project that seeks to provide security for citizens especially women and children in the four MDAs.
Dubbed: “Securing safety and Protection for Women Accused of witchcrafts”, the project which has since ended, advocated for the enactment of by-laws by the various MDAs to ensure the protection of women and children who are mostly vulnerable to witchcraft accusations and forced marriage.
Witchcraft accusations and child marriages as well as other forms of human rights abuse are very rampant in the four MDAs. As evidence of these human rights violations, each of the MDAs has a witch camp where victims of witchcraft accusations seek refuge when their lives are in danger.
For instance the Gnani and Kpatinga witch camps located in the Yendi Municipality, Kukuo witch camp in Nanumba South, Gambaga witch camp in East Mamprusi and the Nabuli witch camp in the Gushegu Municipality.
An estimated 300 alleged witches mostly aged women live in these five camps and their only source of livelihood or survival is through the benevolence of philanthropists and charity organisations like Songtaba.
Regional Development Planning officer at the Northern Regional Coordinating Council, Alhaji Abdul Karim Adam who chaired the meeting, underscored the significance of the by-laws, which in his estimation, would help promote development.
The Yendi Municipal Coordinating Director, Gaspard K. Dery, also lauded the initiative by Songtaba, adding that “the by-laws will regulate the way we do things in the municipality as well as the laws will be protecting the vulnerable, the weak and the marginalised as well as the able bodied producers in society.
Meanwhile, the by-laws stipulates that the four Municipal and District Assemblies shall organise announcements to be made to inform and educate stakeholders such as Assembly Members, Traditional Rulers, Religious Authorities, Youth and women groups and vulnerable persons in the village and towns on the need to comply with the by-laws.
It also said that the Assemblies shall provide the requisite infrastructure to facilitate the promotion of justice delivery, and bringing access to justice to the people in the district which include building of courts, police stations and offices for other state institutions in the justice delivery sector so as to make justice accessible and affordable to the people especially the aged, marginalised, women and adults.
By savannahnewsonline.com/Philip Liebs
