In 2020, a grainy but harrowing video circulated across Ghanaian social media and international news outlets: a frail, elderly woman, later identified as 90‑year‑old Akua Denteh, being beaten to death by a mob in the Savannah Region after being accused of witchcraft. The footage shocked the nation, sparked outrage, and led to the manslaughter convictions of two women seen attacking her. Yet six years on, Akua’s killing remains more than an isolated crime; it is a symbol of a deeper, unresolved crisis. Hundreds of people, overwhelmingly elderly women, continue to live banished in “Ghana witch camps” in the north, stripped of homes, families and dignity, while the law meant to protect them remains unsigned.
The scale and nature of witchcraft accusations
Witchcraft accusations in Ghana are not new, but their human toll is staggering and structurally gendered. Rights groups estimate that hundreds of people accused of witchcraft are currently living in six known camps, mainly in the Northern and North‑East regions. These camps are informal settlements clustered around shrines or traditional leaders where the accused seek refuge after being ostracised, threatened or driven from their communities. Field research by Amnesty International underscores who bears the brunt of this violence. In interviews with 93 residents across four camps, 82 were women, most aged 50 to 90. Overall, 93% of camp residents are female, predominantly elderly women and widows. Accusations typically erupt after misfortunes such as illness, death, accidents, poor harvests, infertility or child mortality, which are locally interpreted as evidence of supernatural harm. Once labelled a “witch”, a person is often forced to flee under threat of death, leaving behind property, kin and social standing.
Life inside Ghana’s witch camps: stigma, survival and rights abuses
Life in the camps is defined by precarity and perpetual stigma. Residents describe banishment from homes and families, years of fear, poverty and dependence on charity, and little hope of safe return. The camps provide some physical protection but entrench social exclusion. People live in deplorable conditions, with limited access to adequate housing, healthcare, education and economic opportunities. Their movement is constrained by the very real risk of violence should they attempt to go home. These conditions amount to systematic violations of fundamental rights. Victims suffer infringements of their right to life and security, given the constant threat of mob violence and lynching. They face discrimination on the basis of gender, age and widowhood, violating the right to equality. Their right to an adequate standard of living, health and mental well‑being is undermined by chronic deprivation and trauma. Many are effectively deprived of liberty and freedom of movement through forced exile. As one civil‑society coalition put it in an open letter to the president,
“Fatal incidences of gender‑based violence, such as the infamous case of 90‑year‑old Akua Denteh – accused of being a witch and publicly lynched in the Savannah Region in 2020 – should no longer be tolerated.”
(Coalition Against Witchcraft Accusations, 2025)
Akua Denteh’s lynching: a case that exposed systemic failure
Akua Denteh’s death laid bare the lethal consequences of unchecked accusations. Her public lynching in 2020, captured on video, triggered national condemnation and some measure of legal accountability: the two women seen attacking her were convicted of manslaughter. Yet rights groups argue this reactive justice does little to deter future accusations or address the ecosystem that enables them. For Akua’s family, the trauma is ongoing. Her daughter, Zeinab Mahama, has become a public advocate, framing her mother’s killing as a “national scar” and a warning of what happens when the state delays protective legislation. In the words of campaigners,
“The tragic lynching of Madam Akua Denteh in 2020 remains a national scar. Ghana cannot afford further delay. The time to act is now…”
(Coalition Against Witchcraft Accusations and parliamentary Human Rights Standing Committee, 2025)
The legal gap: a bill passed but not assented
Ghana’s parliament took a significant step in July 2023 by passing an Anti‑Witchcraft Accusation Bill. The legislation is designed to criminalise declaring, accusing, naming or labelling people as witches, ban witch‑finding practices, and provide remedies and support for survivors. It was widely hailed as a turning point. However, as of 2025–2026, the president has not assented to the bill, meaning it is not yet law. This legislative limbo leaves survivors unprotected while accusations persist. Civil‑society organisations have repeatedly urged the executive to act. In a joint appeal, they stated:
“We also urge you to take immediate decisive action to reintroduce the bill to Parliament and sign the bill into law as soon as possible to criminalize the practice of declaring, accusing, naming, or labelling people as witches.”
(Coalition including ActionAid Ghana, Amnesty International, International Alliance against Witch Hunts, 2025) Without this law, prosecutions remain piecemeal, and the underlying practice is not comprehensively prohibited.
Government, civil society and traditional actors: converging calls for action
Broad alliances of rights groups, faith‑based organisations and parliamentary committees have pressed for urgent reform. In September 2025, delegations visited the Gambaga, Kukuo and Gnani camps, where they heard survivors’ testimonies and renewed calls for immediate action. Their joint statement spelled out specific demands:
“We therefore appeal to: The Speaker of Parliament – to prioritise the Bill in the current session. The Attorney General – to address constitutional concerns and support its passage. The President – to assent to the Bill once passed, showing commitment to human rights. The Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection – to strengthen protection and reintegration measures for survivors.”
(CAWA and parliamentary committee, 2025) The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection has expanded support under the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) cash‑transfer scheme to some camp residents. Civil society acknowledges this but insists support must be universal and guaranteed. As campaigners noted,
“We commend the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection for expanding LEAP support but urge that all camp residents remain on Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) with swift transfers guaranteed to protect livelihoods.”
(CAWA, 2025) Traditional leaders and shrine custodians occupy a complex role. The camps often exist around their shrines, offering shelter but also implicitly validating the narrative that accused persons are dangerous unless contained. Some local NGOs work on mediation and reintegration, yet they warn that without a clear legal framework and coordinated state backing, returns remain fragile and risky. At the regional and continental level, the issue has been framed as a systemic state failure. In a case brought before the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, advocates argue that Ghana has failed to take adequate legislative and other measures to prevent witchcraft accusations, protect victims from violence and discrimination, and prosecute perpetrators, thereby violating rights to dignity, equality and non‑discrimination under the African Charter. Analysis by rights monitors and scholars aligns these domestic patterns with broader international standards echoed in United Nation human‑rights frameworks, which stress that harmful traditional practices must be addressed through law, protection and education.
Why justice for Akua means more than convictions
Justice for Akua Denteh cannot be reduced to the manslaughter convictions in her specific case. True justice requires dismantling the structures that make such killings possible. It demands a law that criminalises the very act of accusation, robust protection for those currently in camps, and realistic pathways for safe reintegration. It requires addressing the gendered stereotypes that mark elderly women and widows as scapegoats for communal misfortune. And it requires sustained public education to shift narratives that equate unexplained tragedy with witchcraft. As rights groups have stressed,
“The Ghanaian authorities have failed to protect and fulfil the human rights of hundreds of victims of witchcraft accusations.”
(Amnesty International, 2025) Until the Anti‑Witchcraft Accusation Bill is assented to and implemented, Akua’s death will remain not just a tragic memory but an ongoing indictment of impunity.
The path forward: law, protection and reintegration
The roadmap is clear. First, presidential assent to the Anti‑Witchcraft Accusation Bill must be secured without further delay, converting political commitment into enforceable law. Second, the state, in partnership with civil society, must design and fund comprehensive reintegration programmes: secure housing, healthcare, psychosocial support, education for children, and livelihood opportunities for survivors who wish to return home. Third, targeted awareness campaigns in accusation‑prone regions must challenge harmful gender stereotypes and offer alternative explanations for misfortune. Finally, law enforcement and the judiciary must be equipped to investigate and prosecute accusations and violence swiftly and consistently. Only then can Ghana ensure that Akua Denteh’s name stands not only for a life brutally taken, but for a turning point when the state finally chose to protect its most vulnerable citizens from the lethal logic of witchcraft accusations.
