We Are Not Witches-Widows Cry Out
Widows in the Upper East region are calling on the public to end the false accusation against them tagging them with witchcraft. Most women especially widows in Northern Ghana have been accused of bewitching a relative or their community members.
As a result they are either camped at ‘witches’ camps to prove their innocence while some are banished from their communities. Most widows in this situation have lost their precious lives through mob justice by their accusers.
But Betty Ayagiba, Founder of Widows and Orphans Movement (WOM), a Non Governmental Organization that works to alleviate the plight of widows and their children pleaded to the public that end to the false accusations meted them.
“We are not witches. Nobody prays that the husband should die but it comes, we are born and we die one by one so if my husband dies it doesn’t mean that I killed him. If I kill him who is going to help me? No widow is a witch” madam Ayagiba remarked.
The women and their children on the International Widows Day marched through the principal streets of Bolgatanga to call for an end against the abuses dished out on women. They protested with placards with inscriptions such as “do not kill widows”, “widows needs your love”.
The International Widows Day was set aside by the United Nations to address poverty and injustice faced by widows and their children in many countries. The occasion held in Bolgatanga brought together widows from all walks of lives in the region to observe the day. The widows during the occasion acted a drama to end the false accusation and the lynching of persons accused of bewitching a fellow.
Madam Ayagiba during the occasion entreated government to enroll the many widows in the country into the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) program to better of their lives.
Speaking on the theme for this year’s celebration “healing the wounds of widows through kindness and love” Madam Ayagiba appealed to traditional and religious leaders and the public not to reject the widows in the communities or places of worship simply because they have lost their spouses.
Abdulai Jaladeen, Upper East Regional director of Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) while calling for an abrupt end to discrimination against widows empowered the women to report to the appropriate authorities when they feel their rights are infringed on.
“Why do we think women don’t have rights, why do we think widows don’t have rights? Every other right that is enshrined in the 1992 constituency under chapter 5, women and for that matter widows are entitled to all.”
The International Widows Day observed in the region was supported by ActionAid Ghana.
By: Joshua Asaah|A1radioonline.com|Ghana
