When investigative journalists met over witchcraft in Ghana

A team of journalists under the auspices of ‘Power of Witchcraft Transnational Investigation’ recently met in Accra, Ghana and came up with a manifesto called the ‘Witchcraft Revolution’.   The whole idea seemed bizarre and crazy! It all started when a local newspaper in Benin Republic wanted to tell a story about six witches. The […]

A team of journalists under the auspices of ‘Power of Witchcraft Transnational Investigation’ recently met in Accra, Ghana and came up with a manifesto called the ‘Witchcraft Revolution’.
 
The whole idea seemed bizarre and crazy! It all started when a local newspaper in Benin Republic wanted to tell a story about six witches. The idea sounded strange to Dutch journalist, Anneke, who was amused because the colleagues seemed to believe that these witches and witchcraft were real. The Netherlands based independent research journalist least expected that there could be reports on witchcraft without questioning.
 A deal was then sealed by the Dutch-Beninese team who agreed to disagree on the witchcraft conundrum. While the Benin journalists worked to prove that witches exist, the Dutch journalist was tasked to prove that witches didn’t.
 The result was an interesting team called ‘power of witchcraft transnational investigation’. It comprises the Dutch journalist who thinks witchcraft stories are bizarre and is surprised that so many people believe them; Alberique Houndjo, who works with Le Canard du Nord, a local French tabloid from Benin Republic, to whom witchcraft is as normal as the weather and Bisong Etahoben who publishes The Weekly Postin Cameroon. He is also a traditional chief with knowledge of the ‘old beliefs’, and of course, yours sincerely from Daily Trust in Nigeria; a country where politics and witchcraft cohabit as Siamese twins.
 Several questions arose: Does everybody believe in the power of witches? Does it mean that everybody can become the victim of witches? Does it mean that anybody can be or become a witch or wizard?
It turned out to be an exciting investigation project. Everybody had to jump over their own shadow even as cultural borders were crossed. The witchcraft project was to be implemented in Benin, Nigeria and Cameroon. After six months of research and mini-surveys in these African countries as well as survey on NGO’s in Europe, the ‘witchcraft’ journalists converged on Accra recently to present their preliminary findings. The outcomes were as astounding as they were shocking.
 During their four days of meeting at the popular Paloma Hotel in Accra, Ghana, the team came up with a resolution tagged: ‘The Witchcraft Revolution’. On the first day each team member presented their preliminary findings as well as the challenges of investigating witchcraft. This was preceded by a brief introduction by each team member.
Seated around a large table on the hotel terrace, each reporter talked about himself and his job as an investigative journalist. Chief Bisong Etahoben could not talk much about his newspaper, The Weekly Post but preferred to focus on witchcraft, the subject of our investigative team meeting. Interestingly, he is not only a journalist, but also a traditional leader in his village in Cameroon.
At the end of the meeting in Accra the team found a common trend: Witchcraft is an invisible mafia-like system, practiced by faceless people and is practically impossible to prove. Witchcraft not only kills people, it can kill countries as well. Witchcraft seriously retards the development of a country on all levels, democracy, economy, health, education, community life, relations. It can even kill a country.
 The team also found that the system is egotistic, with no eyes for the common good. Witchcraft is built on fear and jealousy and nobody can escape it, neither the victims nor the people practising it. Through witchcraft, people are threatened and manipulated; members cited many examples of blackmail, corruption, tribalism, nepotism, forgery, fraud, maltreatment, and abuse; all in the name of witchcraft. Witchcraft is responsible for many peoples’ deaths; it’s impossible to say how many.
The team also noted that through witchcraft, elections could be manipulated. Several cases of politicians who used witchcraft, or became the victims of witchcraft were cited. For instance through the use of witchcraft politicians lose their legitimacy because it erodes the electoral and democratic process.
 The team also found that through witchcraft, young children are abused and used. Instances were also cited of many children who had to suffer violent exorcism or financial abuse of their parents. Once branded as a witch, they are marked for life. Through witchcraft the future is at stake: if grades can be bought, ill-qualified people become teachers, civil servants and employees. It thus undermines the quality of all (government) institutions and enterprises and thus the economy.
 It was based on the foregoing that the team came up with the manifesto called ‘Witchcraft Revolution.’ While not calling for the eradication of witchcraft the team, however, noted that witchcraft should be used for the good, not for the bad. The team resolved to start a broad campaign asking local and national governments, associations of local chiefs and churches to take action.
The team noted that traditional chiefs in the various communities could play a key-role because apart from being initiated, they are very well informed and have much influence in their villages. The national government and local governments, the team believes, have good relationships with the local chiefs and local councils hence also have roles to play in the witchcraft revolution, including respected churches, like the Roman Catholic, the Presbyterian Church, the Baptist Church and also the mosques?
 A communiqué issued by the team at the end of the Accra meeting summed it up: “We ask all organizations who can, to take action and to put this on their respective agendas. And of course we will ask our colleagues -journalists – to do the same. We send this appeal because we are deeply concerned. We see a dangerous system, a serious menace for development. We found we had to do more besides writing articles about our findings.”
In the end, the team left Accra with the poser: will ‘bad magic’ continue to exist and maybe even grow in Nigeria, Benin and Cameroon? Or will it eventually decrease and dissipate?