People labeled as witches or wizards continue to suffer at the hands of others, despite the passage of the criminal offenses amendment bill by Parliament three months ago.

The bill is among others to protect persons accused of witchcraft.

The Criminal Offences (Amendment) Bill, also known as the anti-witchcraft bill, prohibits the activities of witch doctors or witch-finders.

It also forbids the accusation of people as witches or wizards.

However, some civil society groups have expressed concern over the delay in signing the bill into law.

When a bill is passed by Parliament, it takes a few days for the legislature to send it to the presidency, and in less than a week, the bill is signed into law by the President.

However, that is not the case with the anti-witchcraft bill.

It’s been three months since its passage and yet to be signed by the President.
Executive Director of the Sanneh Institute, Professor John Azumah asserts that the bill is still in Parliament, citing the ongoing threat to lives due to accusations of witchcraft and wizardry.

‘’We all spoke out, people condemned it and then when it comes to acting to bring about legislation to help address the issue, there is some foot-dragging or there are some attempts to stall the bill. We are waiting for Parliament to resume from recess and we will go and demand to know where the bill is. We have been on the ground we’ve tried to be sensitive to the communities. We’ve done a lot of education. Some of the people see it as a cultural practice. Therefore, education alone cannot work.’’

He advocates for a law that acts as a deterrent and allows the police to arrest and prosecute perpetrators.

‘’All the police can do is arrest people when there is physical violence and that is the problem because the accusation doesn’t just come with physical violence alone, but it comes with banishment, it comes with seizure of people’s properties and their land back in the communities, they drive them away from their homes and they live in isolation in communities that they are strangers in.’’

In an interview with the Majority Leader Osei Kyei- Mensah-Bonsu who also heads government business, he said Parliament has long transferred the bill to the presidency.

‘’All the bills that were passed by Parliament all of them are gone to the presidency. There are a couple of them that, my understanding the Attorney-General has raised some issues with, but I think it doesn’t include the anti-witchcraft bill. The President, the last time he spoke with me wanted to have some consultation with the Speaker on those two bills. I think the anti-witchcraft is not part of it.’’

The main question remains: what is preventing the President from signing the bill for it to become law?

Source: 3News

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Ghana, Accra, Mankessim. Ishmael Awudi is a journalist and a media entrepreneur. He founded Ghana News Guide. GNG is an online news platform that focuses on news stories within Ghana and across the world on a regular basis. The primary objective of GNG is to ensure that news stories are reported as they are, with no filters applied. In its news coverage, GNG strives for professionalism.He also founded Wetour, a local tourism agency aimed at boosting the tourism space in Ghana with the youth at focus.Ishmael works with The Afriam Network as the head of business development. Afriam Network is a global company based in Ghana, Accra that offers a variety of services such as Customer Service, Debt Collection, Order Taking, Lead Generation, Customer Surveys, and Telesales. Ishmael holds a bachelor's degree from the Ghana Institute of Journalism. He won the best online media personality award in 2019 at level 300.He has contributed to several media houses in Ghana including.

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