Witchcraft beliefs are very real concerns for many Ghanaians and influence attitudes and daily behaviors. Shaped by colonial legacies, other religions, contemporary thought, and the current government in Ghana, witchcraft in Ghana is dynamic and intersects with other facets of life in Ghana. Because witchcraft is largely considered bad or evil, the fear of witchcraft can cause a variety of responses, some of which are harmful for the accused.
History and cultural influence Witchcraft is a worldwide phenomenon, deeply rooted in many African countries and communities in Sub-Saharan Africa, including in Ghana. However, specific beliefs in or perceptions of witchcraft vary between the world's countries and within regions of Ghana. Bayie is the Twi word most closely translated as "witchcraft" used by the Akan people in Ghana. The Akan are the ethnic numerical majority in Ghana, comprising roughly 50% of the population. As a result, their witchcraft beliefs are the most prevalent and well-researched, although other ethnic groups may have conflicting spiritual beliefs. Unless specified, the following characterizations of Ghanaian witchcraft are applied as generalizations.In Ghana, witchcraft is primarily practiced by women—although there are also male witches (or wizards)—and is passed down through matrilineal descent. The Akan believe that witches can only bewitch maternal kin, while Ewe people believe that witches can bewitch anyone. Shelagh Roxburgh concluded through field research that there is no clear definition of what witchcraft is exactly, but there is a common factor in what civilians perceive it as: it causes harm. Witches are distinguished from healers, who use their powers for aiding rather than "evil". Witches are said to be able to cause infertility, bring disease, create poverty or material loss, cause conflict, destroy personal destiny, snatch sexual organs, and even kill. Precolonial practices for determining a witch include odum poison ordeal and "corpse-carrying". Corpse carrying refers to the practice in which people would carry a dead body and the body would point to the individual responsible for the death through witchcraft. Precolonial responses to those guilty of witchcraft included exile, medicine usage, public executions, cleansing at a shrine, and even selling individuals into slavery. Tales of witch beliefs and accusations occur through various forms of media including television, newspaper, and magazines, and law. However, research in Eastern Ghana indicates that Akan who live by the Kwahu sandstone plateau often engage with witchcraft informally; suspicions are spread through word-of-mouth away from formal public affairs.
Colonial history and context When Ghana was colonized by the British in 1874, the state reserved the right to administer capital punishment for witchcraft and pre-colonial witchcraft test were similarly outlawed. However, native tribunals continued to judge witchcraft cases without legal authority. In 1927, the Native Administration Ordinance (NAO) granted the Gold Coast Tribunals the official authority to judge witchcraft cases, which brought them into legal compliance and legitimized native tribunal cases. Some researchers consider witchcraft perceptions and beliefs as opportunities for Africans to be able to imagine and perceive their own world outside of colonial objectives and values; Shelagh Roxburgh, for instance, claims that news media sensationalism of witchcraft-related violence is a continuation of the colonial objective to rewrite African realities and dismiss witchcraft. Within religion, African Independent/Initiated Churches (AICs) were created in the early twentieth century, an era of colonial control and foreign missionary influence, in response to inadequate Western Christian missionary responses to African spiritual and witchcraft-related concerns. AICs blend Western biblical notions with traditional beliefs (including those of witchcraft), practices, and interpretations to challenge colonial separations of sacred and secular worlds.
Religion The 2012 WIN-Gallup International 'Religion and Atheism Index' claimed that Ghana is the most religious country in the world with 96 percent of it population identifying as religious. Within Ghana, 45% identify as following traditional African beliefs, 43% as Christian, and 12% as Muslim. Traditional African religions depict the universe as a multitude of spirits that are able to be used for good or evil. Popular religions in Ghana such as Christianity and Islam coexist with the beliefs of spirits, evil, and witchcraft illustrated in traditional beliefs; in fact, some people join other religions to have other deities to look over them and protect them from witchcraft. In predominantly Christian communities, it is common to find articles and news on what "good" Christians can do to fight evil forces of witchcraft. Some Christian congregations perform deliverance prayers to release victims from the power of witches. In early colonial missions, the Christian missionary failed to understand African responses to witchcraft and the gospel, and suppressed witchcraft thought because Western leaders believed it to hamper progress and modernity. Since, alongside the creation of AICs, Christian congregations have attempted to address the problem of witchcraft in contemporary times. Opoku Oniynah, Ghanaian theologist, defines the combination of traditional African religions and Christianity as a theology called "witchdemonology," to which he expresses concern over the ministry's preoccupation with witchcraft. Oniynah's concerns demonstrate a continued conflict of ideas such as modernity, progress, and sophistication within Christian Ghanaian faith. Research has found that accusations of witchcraft are frequently encouraged by or started alongside Christian clergyman and fetish priests, and that deeper investigations have revealed subsequent human rights abuses.
Music Witchcraft themes and stories are present in Ghanaian music culture. Sang in Akan, the dominant non-English language in Ghana, popular songs reference witchcraft as explanation for things such as infertility, alcoholism, and death. Music is also used as a mode of activism against witch accusations and witchcraft-related violence. The album Witch Camp: I've Forgotten Now Who I Used to Be consists of twenty tracks of accused women singing and playing on found instruments to empower them and tell their stories.
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