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Gnani, Ghana – Victims of alleged witchcraft in the Gnani-Tingdam community in the Yendi Municipality in the Northern Region are now relieved of the constant drudgery of having to walk several kilometres in search of potable water.
Gnani, a name synonymous with witchcraft, is home to dozens of older women who have been accused by close relatives or community folks of bewitching family members and other prominent people who encountered their untimely death or suffered some form of misfortune in life.
The community has been without any source of potable water as well as other forms of social amenities that makes life complete for any thriving human settlement.
But the daily search for potable water by these unfortunate women banished from different communities by their kings men and women in the eastern part of Dagbon has come to an end now.
Tamale based Grassroot Sisterhood Foundation (GSF), a non-profit organisation in partnership with True Shea and Homemade Shea in the United States of America, have handed over two big water reservoirs constructed for the Gnani-Tingdam community.
According to Executive Director GSF, Fati Alhassan, one of the water reservoirs would serve the community while the other serves as a source of water to run a shea butter processing centre established to provide livelihoods for the alleged witches.
She explained that, Mr Mane Addo, CEO of True Shea based in Ohio, USA, sponsored the construction and installation of the water reservoir for the community use whereas Homemade Shea, another shea trading company in the USA through Dr Christie Agawu sponsored the other water reservoir for the shea butter processing centre.
Madam Fati indicated that, “the construction and installation of the two water reservoirs cost over Gh¢50,000 with each facility having a water holding capacity of 10,000 litres”.
The Executive Director of GSF estimated that “about one thousand people in the Gnani-Tingdam community as well as other adjoining communities would benefit from the two water facilities”.
Dr Christie Agawu on her part said the whole idea was to drive a social justice enterprise by ensuring that there was enormous change in the Gnani community and the lives of the vulnerable women in the next 5 years.
“Shea butter is making 2 billion dollars a year and my interest is to see to it that some of the billions of dollars comes to this community to support these women”.
She noted that individuals were supporting her and GSF to build the shea butter processing factory for the women.
“A friend donated a generator and pumps, another one volunteered to draw the architectural plan of the building probono and another assisting us to get electricity to the site of the factory”, Dr Agawu indicated.
The former lecturer of Princeton University however decried the deplorable state in which the innocent women live saying “Ghana should be embarrassed with what is going on here in the Gnani camp as well as the other camps in the region”.
The women of Gnani were overjoyed when the water facilities were handed over to them through the community chief.
Sanatu Yakubu, as a child, accompanied her grandmother who was accused of witchcraft and banished to live in the Gnani witches camp.
Now in her late 50s, she expressed joy seeing the two water facilities being inaugurated, something she never dreamed could happen in her lifetime. The mother of four thanked GSF and its partners for their generosity.
Danaa Taaling also expressed relief saying “We’d no longer walk far to search for water. Now we have the water within our community and we can use it to process shea butter and also cook meals for our families.”
On behalf of the community, Chief Dawuni expressed his appreciation to Grassroot Sisterhood Foundation, True Shea and Homemade for the water supply to his community. He gave the assurance that he would see to the proper utilisation of the water facilities so they serve many more people.
By SavannahNewsOnline.Com/Philip Liebs
