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Ghana: First Lady Interacts with Women in Gambaga “Witches” Camp

The First Lady, Mrs Lordina Mahama, has expressed her discontent at those who blame and abandon their mothers and grandmothers for being the cause of their adversities in life.

“Accusing and blaming our mothers and grandmothers for our woes and adversities in life and banishing them to a life of neglect is unacceptable,” she said. She said individuals needed to take responsibility for their failures and actions instead of blaming and casting away their mothers and grandmothers.

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Ghana: Old Women, Wisdom and Witchcraft

Old women in Ghana must be treated with maximum respect. They deserve to be given the same treatment and attention as other adults.

Old women, or better still, the aged in society, are not to be branded witches and wizards. In fact, they are the embodiment of wisdom; that is why they, especially old ladies, are traditionally consulted during arbitrations for wisdom-inspired solution to the most obstinate problem.

They need to be loved, adored, accommodated and cared for by the very society they have helped put in place, through the children they have begotten.

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Central African Republic: Sorcery at War

C.A.R. is splitting in two, with Muslims in the north and Christians in the south. Much of the capital is already empty of Muslims… Religious divisions mapped onto, and exacerbated, senses of longstanding economic and political injustice.

And if the violence has reached fearsome levels in the last few months, it is partly because a pervasive belief in sorcery among Central Africans has mapped onto and exacerbated Christian-Muslim divisions.

“Witchcraft is real,” the country’s interim president, Catherine Samba-Panza, assured me during an interview at her home in Bangui in late March.

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South Africa: Six Arrested for Murdering Woman Accused of Witchcraft

Two women and four men, believed to be relatives of the deceased, have been arrested for the attack and murder of 52 year old Catherina Nkovani from Thomo village in Limpopo last month.

Nkovani was murdered after the death of her sister-in-law who passed away after a long illness. After the woman’s funeral community members, including the husband of the deceased, accused Nkovani was bewitching her sister-in-law.

Nkovani was attacked shortly after, only a few metres from the cemetery.

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Nigeria: Man Sets Son Ablaze Over Watchcraft

A middle aged man identified as Victor Friday Usuk of Afagha Uqua in Eket Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State has set his 10-year-old son, Jeremiah Victor Usuk, ablaze for allegedly bewitching him. P.M.News gathered that the man poured petrol on his son, struck a match and set him ablaze after a prophetess in his church, Prophetess Grace, prophesied that his failure in business and joblessness were caused by his son.

Jeremiah, who sustained third degree burns and narrowly survived the trial by ordeal, is still nursing the severe injuries.

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Tanzania: Minister slams killings of elderly women, seeks state initiative

About Sh500 million is needed for the introduction of a nationwide initiative for ending killings of innocent elderly women, the Minister for Lands, Housing and Human Settlements, Prof. Anna Tibaijuka has declared.

Officiating at the Tanzania Women Lawyers Association (TAWLA) Annual General Meeting (AGM), the minister said that despite government efforts to stop the habit, the lynching of elderly women continues, noting that culture and tradition are aspects of Tanzanian society that are difficult to change through campaigns and laws.

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Nepal: 2 held for thrashing women on witchcraft charge

The Dhanusha district police on Saturday arrested two persons for assaulting a woman and her daughter on the charge of “practicing witchcraft”. 

According to Inspector Govinda Puri, both will be tried under the public offence act.

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Bahrain: Battered wives are conned by ‘witches’

Battered wives are spending thousands of dinars on “witch doctors” who practise black magic to discipline their abusive husbands, according to a leading Bahraini expert.

Psychiatrist and behavioural science specialist Dr Sharifa Swar said an increasing number of domestic violence victims were turning to scam artists, who claim to have supernatural powers, to force their husbands to love them or stop them from physically assaulting them.

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Malawi: Witch hunts in Malawi – President Joyce Banda, Please Intervene!

The President of Malawi, Mrs Joyce Banda, needs to act swiftly to stop the persecution of alleged witches in Malawi. This modern day witch hunting is being perpetrated in police stations and courts. The justice system in Malawi needs urgent reform in order to end the victimisation of alleged witches.

The government should help protect and defend alleged witches and not prosecute, imprison or penalise them.

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Tanzania: Mob justice killings swell in Tanzania

The Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda has said that despite government efforts to strengthen national security, brutal killings of women increased during the first quarter of this year.

Citing examples, Pinda said between January and last month, eight women were murdered in Mugango, Etaro, Nyakatende and Nyegina wards in Butiama District, Mara Region. At least 19 people died in such killings in Mara region.

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