Witchcraft accusations in Ghana could be banned by new law

Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo delivers his annual state of the nation address to the parliament in Accra, Ghana, March 30, 2022. REUTERS/Francis Kokoroko/File Photo

ACCRA (Reuters) - Ghana's parliament on Friday passed a bill to protect people accused of witchcraft, making it a crime to abuse them or send them away from communities.

The new law was suggested after a 90-year-old woman was lynched in Kafaba in the East Gonja Municipality of the Savannah Region in July 2020, drawing condemnation from local and international rights groups.