Gambaga Witch camp explained

Gambaga Witch Camp is a segregated community within Gambaga township in the North East Region of Ghana established as a shelter to accommodate alleged witches and wizards who are banished from their communities.^{[1] [2] [3]}

The camp has about 25 round huts, and holds about 100 inmates. No health services or indoor plumbing are available.^[4]

Many women in Ghana's witch camps are widows and it is thought that relatives accused them of witchcraft. Other inmates in the camp have been accused of using black magic to cause misfortunes in their community.^[5] Many women also are mentally ill, a little understood problem in Ghana.^[6] In Gambaga, the women are given protection by the local chieftain.^[7]

Yaba Badoe made a documentary film, The Witches of Gambaga about the alleged witches.

See also

• Kayayei
• Witchcraft accusations against children in Africa

External links

• Video by Yaba Badoe about women in Ghanaian camps
• Dispatches Saving Africa's Witch Children
• Witch Child Documentary

10.5306°N -0.4422°W

Notes and References

1. Web site: The Witches of Gambaga: Belief in Witchcraft Is Still Widespread in Africa, and Being Accused of Its Practice Can Be a Death Sentence. and with Traditional Gender Roles Being Challenged, Such Accusations Are Becoming Increasingly Common. Simon De Trey-White Visits a Camp in Ghana That Has Housed 'Convicted' Witches for More Than 200 Years. de Trey-White, Simon. Geographical. June 23, 2007.
2. Web site: A Prison Sometimes a Haven: Ghana's Witch Villages Only Safe Place for Women Accused of Casting Spells. https://web.archive.org/web/20150329050310/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-67596546.html. dead. 29 March 2015. Sullivan . Tim . Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO). Associated Press . 11 January 1998. 21 November 2014.
3. Web site: Africa for Halloween?. https://web.archive.org/web/20150329050312/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-2893225111.html. dead. March 29, 2015. Djanie, Akua. New African. January 1, 2013. 21 November 2014.
4. Npong. Francis. Witch Camps of Ghana. Utne Reader. 2014. Winter. 48–49. 10 January 2015.
5. News: Hundreds of women trapped in Ghana's 'witch camps'. Telegraph.co.uk. 2017-03-18. en.
6. News: Ghana witch camps: Widows' lives in exile . BBC . September 1, 2012 . 1 September 2012.
7. News: Ghana: the Witches of Gambaga . . September 1, 2012 . London . 25 November 2010.