The Gambaga “witches’” colony: its artistic and other cultural life
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Date
2007-08-08
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Abstract
The “witches’” Camp at Gambaga in the East Mamprusi District of the northern Region, is a place where women who are accused of witchcraft take refuge under the protection of the Gambaga chief (the Gambag-rana). Although there have been some achievements from the initiative of the Gambaga ‘Out Cast Home Project’, very little has been done to expose the positive and negative attributes of the camp. The study examined the trend of events that take place at the camp from the artistic and cultural perspectives. The core objective was to identify the problems of the inmates and bring them to the public domain for possible assistance. The exercise was made possible by means of questionnaire, interviews, photographs, on site seeing and note taking, and a literature from relevant sources. The study found that the accommodation facilities of the inmates were in dilapidated state. Most of the cultural practices revealed, which the “witches” go through, were also cruel and forcible. The inmates and other concerned people who were interviewed, were of the view that something needs to be done to improve the living conditions at the camp. The “witches” stand to benefit from this study due to the recommendations made to Community Based Organization, Women Organizations, the Government Agencies such as the CHRAJ and the National Commission for Civic Education to extend their programme in aid of the women and also forestall further occurrences.
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A thesis submitted to the Department Of General Art Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science And Technology in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of a Master of Arts (African Art And Culture) Degree
Faculty of Fine Art, College of Art and Social Science.