Witches of Gambaga

Gambaga, a small town in rural Northern Ghana, is a ‘witch camp’ home to many women believed to perform black magic.

 

When a woman is accused of witchcraft, she is taken to the village chief. He slays a chicken and throws it up in the air. If the chicken falls on the side or on its belly, the woman is declared a ‘witch’. 
 

The women in these amazing photographs by Stephane De Rouville are not witches at all. They are ordinary women chased out of their homes by people who, for whatever ulterior motive, accused them of witchcraft.

 

Over the years the ‘witches’, coming form different regions formed six camps in Ghana (all in the Northern part of the country). Gambaga, created in 1900, is the oldest. Here the residents are under the protection of the local Chief for whom the outcast women work for free. The majority makes soap, spins cotton or works in the fields. 

 

Ironically the Chief of Gambaga can reverse the witches’ fate. A new “chicken ceremony” can decide if the witch is no longer a ‘witch’. Of course, only the Chief can declare a woman officially cured. Until such time, the witches have no choice but to work under his total control.
 

 

Gambaga is nothing else but a concentration camp.



Stephane De Rouville was finalist of YOUMANITY photography award. Everyday Heroines raised awareness of Gender Discrimination