The recent lynching of two people at Zakpalsi, in the Mion District of the Northern Region, on the basis of accusations of witchcraft, has been denounced by Ya-Na Abukari II, Overlord of Dagbon.
In the Dagbon traditional territory, according to Ya Na Abukari II, it is wrong and unjustified to lynch someone on the basis of witchcraft charges. He stated. “No one has the right to take the life of another man,” he continued, “and all the factions involved in the lynching episode in Zakpalsi are my children.
When a delegation from the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection (MoGCSP), led by Sector Minister Hajia Lariba Zuweira Abudu, paid him a courtesy visit at the Gbewaa Palace in Yendi to ask his support to stop lynching of people accused of witchcraft in the Northern Region, Ya Na Abukari II said, “If they had informed me earlier, we could have addressed these issues amicably without anyone losing his or her life.”
Ya Na Abukari Il thanked the MoGCSP for the visit and promised to put in place measures to step up advocacy and sensitization to help protect the rights of people in the traditional region who are accused of witchcraft.
According to Hajia Abudu, the visit was a component of a two-day working tour of the Northern and North Eastern Regions in which she sought the traditional leaders’ support for the need to put policies in place to help address issues with accusations of witchcraft and the lynching of victims.
She expressed concern at the recent lynching of two people in Zakpalsi, especially in light of the countless initiatives the government and other stakeholders have taken to put an end to such crimes across the nation.
“We cannot advance as a country while some subsection of our population is consistently mistreated and discriminated against,” she remarked. The criminals will be brought before the law in our nation.
