Petition to demand justice for murdered 90 year old woman in Ghana. 

On Thursday, July 23, 2020, a woman, mother, sister and grandmother named Akua Denteh aged 90 was accused of witchcraft by a fetish priest. As a result, this old person was brutally beaten by a mob to death. This heartbreaking incident happened in Kafaba near Salaga in the Savannah Region of Ghana.

We the petitioners of this letter, who are concerned citizens of Ghana, urgently call on the following authorities to expeditiously investigate and apprehend all perpetrators involved in this gruesome act and to put in place measures to ensure that such an atrocity is NOT repeated anywhere in Ghana:

• We demand that the police launch an investigation into the matter and apprehend all culprits immediately.
• We demand that  President Nana Addo Danquah Akufo Addo openly condemns this barbaric trend of accusing old people specifically, women of witchcraft. We call on the president to send out a stern warning against persons who encourage these acts.
• We urge the traditional leaders in Kafaba and its surrounding communities as well as other affected areas to discourage such acts of arbitrarily accusing people of witchcraft and to create conditions in their communities to ensure that this is NOT repeated. 
• The Judiciary should see to the prosecution of all perpetrators of this inhumane act to serve as a deterrent to others.
• We demand that the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection put measures in place to protect vulnerable old women who are usually victims of witchcraft accusations.
• We call on Ghanaian feminist groups to actively include the issue of witchcraft accusations and its devastating and fatal effects on women in their feminist acitivism and campaigns.
• Stakeholders such as the media and civil societies in collaboration with local communities should sensitize the general public on the need to respect human rights especially the right to life.
• We call on all civil society groups, Ghanaian institutions and concerned citizens to work actively to dismantle the patriarchy which creates the conditions for women to be accused of witchcraft and killed as a result of these accusations.

Witchcraft accusations in many African communities are rooted in the patriarchy which demonizes women who deviate from social norms, poor women, rural women, widowed women/unmarried women/women who refuse to marry, women with disabilities and women who challenge the patriarchy in general. It is our belief that we all need to work to dismantle the systems that create the conditions for women to be harmed in this way.

Petition launched by concerned citizens of Ghana:

Vida Awinime Bugri

Felicia Anthonio

Wunpini Fatimata Mohammed