Girl tagged as a witch for clocking an aggregate 30 in BECE

Ghanaian women’s rights activist, Margaret Brew-Ward, has shared the plight of a young girl who was branded a witch by her community folks for getting an aggregate 30 in her Basic Education Certificate Examination.

According to the Campaign Manager for Action Aid Ghana, the girl was branded a witch for acquiring a grade never attained by a female in that community before.

Her ability to beat the expectations of female students by being the first girl to attain the best grade got her tagged as a witch.

“Recently, there was a case we heard when we visited one of the communities that a girl who got around aggregate 30 in the BECE was [branded a witch]… Meanwhile, you know, in the cities, people are striving for aggregate 8, eight 1s and what not.

“Just because in that community, no girl had passed to go to the secondary school, so for a girl to do that, she [must have been a witch],” she explained on JoyNews.

Madam Brew-ward was speaking about the scope of people susceptible to being wrongly branded as witches who are attacked and, in some cases, led to death.

In the case of the female student, the activist noted that it had to take the collaboration of her outfit and some state institutions to get her assistance.

Over the years, there have been various cases of attacks on people who have been tagged as witches.

While such people tend to be shunned by society and neglected by their families, there have been instances where mob attacks have led to the deaths of such accused people.

In the meantime, there have been numerous calls for the state to enact laws prohibiting abuse of those who have been accused of witchcraft.