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Deputy Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Hon. Freda Prempeh has disclosed the plan of the Akufo-Addo government to make lives comfortable for the aged people and those who have been brandish as witches and wizards in the northern part of the country.

According to the Member of Parliament for Tano North, the lynching leading to the death of the alleged 90-year old witch has awakened the need for the government to do something about the long-standing witch camps prevailing in the northern sector of the country.

Speaking on Okay FM’s 'Ade Akye Abia' Morning Show, Hon Freda Prempeh said even though the soothsayer who pronounced the old woman as a witch has been arraigned before the court, their visit to the various witch camps after hearing another attack on an old woman showed that the old women are not ready and willing to vacate those camps as they feel safe over there than their homes.

Based on this new case, the Minister and her deputies and the entire directorate traveled to Tamale and visited 5 witch camps and the biggest of all is the one at Gambaga, and some are also in Gushegu and other smaller villages.

“We spoke to some of our mothers who have been accused of being witches and in some other place, we saw 88 men being accused as wizards. Some of the supposed witches have stayed at the witch camp for 30 years, 25 years, 18 years and the person who has not stayed in the witch camp for long is about 2 years,” she indicated.

“Throughout our conversations with them, the women are not willing to go back to their families or back to the communities they come from and the reason is that  . . . they would be beaten to death," she disclosed.

She again mentioned that some of the old women in the various witch camps have started engaging in communal labour with the farmers in the communities as they feel comfortable and safe at the witch camps; attesting to the fact that NGOs come to their aid with food items.

Hon. Freda Prempeh was however emphatic saying that the people in the witch camps are rather calling for government's support to make their stay in the witch camps a success.

She said the leadership of the Ministry is meeting on the request of the people from the witch camps and push it for Cabinet approval.

She added that some of the plans of the government are to empower them with some money to do petty trading as they have advanced in age and also help them in farming activities.

" . . also the name witch camp is negative . . . so we will see to it that we change the name to maybe Old Age Home or Centre or Rehabilitation or something else under our Social Welfare and Social Protection Department of the Ministry and find means to mechanize them into the LEAP so that they can get some allowance for their upkeep . . . because they have made their minds that even if we close the witch camps under lock and key, they will not go home,” she disclosed.