Kafaba chief arrested over 90-year-old’s lynching

The Chief of Kafaba in the East Gonja municipality of the Savanna Region has been arrested by the regional police command in connection with the lynching of a 90-year-old woman a few days ago.

The police told journalists that the chief is being held at Damongo, the regional capital.

He is being interrogated over the matter.

The arrest followed President Nana Akufo-Addo’s condemnation of the incident.

The President said the lynching has “disfigured the face of our nation.”

Akua Denteh was accused of witchcraft by a native doctor and subsequently flogged and bludgeoned to death in public.

Mr Akufo-Addo said he hopes “the quick response of the police will lead to the rapid administration of justice in this unfortunate matter”.

Meanwhile, a foundation has been set up in the victim’s name to help fight the culture of lynching of alleged witches.

The President said: “I will make an appropriate contribution to the Akua Denteh Foundation to express my own revulsion at the awful, tragic act that has occurred in this region.”

The Overlord of the Gonja Kingdom, Yagbonwura Tuntumba Bore Essa, has also urged his subjects to help fish out the culprits and bring them to justice.

Others prominent persons who have condemned the lynching include former President John Mahama, former President Jerry John Rawlings, former First Lady Lordina Mahama and her foundation and the vice-presidential aspirant of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Prof Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang.