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Naming the Witch, Housing the Witch and Living with Witchcraft: an Ethnography of Ordinary Lives in Northern Ghana’S Witch Camps

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Naming the Witch, Housing the Witch and Living with Witchcraft: an Ethnography of Ordinary Lives in Northern Ghana’S Witch Camps Naming the Witch, Housing the Witch and Living with Witchcraft: An Ethnography of Ordinary Lives in Northern Ghana’s Witch Camps By Saibu Mutaru Dissertation presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Social Anthropology) in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Stellenbosch University Supervisor: Dr Ilana van Wyk Co-supervisor: Dr Thomas Cousins December 2019 Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za Declaration By submitting this thesis electronically, I declare that the entirety of the work contained therein is my own original work, that I am the authorship owner thereof (unless to the extent explicitly otherwise stated), that reproduction and publication thereof by Stellenbosch University will not infringe any third party rights and that I have not previously in its entirety or in part submitted it for obtaining any qualification. December 2019 Signature: Copyright © 2019 Stellenbosch University All rights reserved ii Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za Abstract In Dagbambaland, northern Ghana, people who were accused and proven to be witches and who risked being harmed were banished by village chiefs and local elders (or fled on their own) to special settlements popularly known to locals as accused women’s (or old women’s) settlements, and to the media and NGO world as “witch camps”. Here, an earth priest and anti- witchcraft specialist, the tindana, ritually removed the dark powers of the morally compromised witch and committed him or her to the protection and necessary sanctions of the ancestral shrine. Post-1990 so-called “witch camps” have attracted much attention from churches, state agencies and NGOs interested in the human rights abuses that supposedly took place in these “camps”. This ethnography is an attempt to explore the “afterlife” of witchcraft accusations, when convicted witches settle in new villages after breaking trust with kinsmen and villagers in their original communities. And unlike many studies of witchcraft in Africa that focus on suspicions and rumours of witchcraft, this thesis critically analyses the ordinary lives of known, confessing witches. I look at their insertion in the social world of host communities where they lived as morally compromised strangers, and where access to community resources and networks was largely made possible through a local moral economy. Of paramount importance to ordinary life here was the question of trust. How did local host communities come to trust and accept these “moral criminals” into their midst when their own kinsmen and village friends had rejected them as untrustworthy because of the danger they posed to social order? What role did churches, NGOs and state agencies play in the social configuration of witch villages? My findings suggest that although stomach cleansing rituals played a vital role in villagers’ decision to accept the accused into their communities, such rituals were, by themselves, not sufficient to establish any meaningful social co-existence between locals and the accused. Co-existence and everyday survival were made possible through the enormous generosity shown by both the accused (in terms of the provision of their labour) and locals (who allowed dangerous Others into their midst); a mutually beneficial exchange relationship described by both as songsim. However, songsim was not neutral. In situations where witchcraft had been proven and accepted as a reality, its moral stain defined exchange relations between the accused and locals. Returns on songsim were often skewed in favour of locals who accepted to take on the risks of living with a witch. iii Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za Opsomming In Dagbambaland, Noord-Ghana, word mense wat aangekla en skuldig bevind is op aanklagtes van heksery deur dorpshoofmanne en ouer mans verban na nedersettings wat plaaslik populêr bekend staan as aangeklaagde vrouens- (of ouvrou-) nedersettings. Party mense vlug ook op hulle eie na dié nedersettings toe. Die media en nieregeringsorganisasies verwys gereeld na die nedersettings as “hekskampe”. In die “kampe” verwyder ‘n aardspriester en heksekenner, die tindana, ritueel die donker mag van moreel suspisieuse hekse en dra hulle welstand op aan die beskerming en sanksies van die voorvaders. Na 1990 het hierdie “hekskampe” groot aftrek gekry van kerke, staatsagenstkappe en nieregeringsorganisasies wat geïnteresseerd was in die menseregteskendings wat glo grootskaals in die kampe gepleeg is. Hierdie etnografie poog om die nalewe van hekserybeskuldigings te ondersoek, wanneer individue wat as gevolg van hulle skuldigbevinding aan heksery, bande met familie en vriende moet sny om ‘n nuwe lewe in ‘n vreemde dorp aan te pak. In teenstelling met ander studies oor heksery in Afrika wat fokus op suspisies en gerugte van heksery, analiseer hierdie proefskrif krities die daaglikse lewens van bekende, belydene hekse. Ek kyk na die maniere waarop hekse, wat moreel kriminele vreemdelinge is, hulle aansluit by die sosiale lewens van gasgemeenskappe. Ek is veral geïnteresseerd in die manier waarop hulle toegang tot gemeenskapshulpbronne verkry deur sosiale netwerke wat geskool is op ‘n plaaslike morele ekonomie gebaseer op vertroue. Hoe aanvaar en vertrou gasgemeenskappe hierdie “morele kriminele” wie se eie families en vriende hulle verwerp het as onbetroubaar en as ‘n gevaar vir die sosiale bestel? Watter rol speel kerke, regerings- en nieregeringsorganisasies in die sosiale opset van heksdorpe? Ek het bevind dat alhoewel maagreinigingsseremonies ’n sentrale rol speel in gasgemeenskappe se besluite om hekse te aanvaar, is sulke rituele in sigself nie genoeg om betekenisvolle sosiale naasbestaan tussen boorlinge en hekse te bewerkstellig nie. Naasbestaan en daaglikse oorlewing is slegs moontlik deur die grootse vrygewigheid wat beide hekse en boorlinge teenoor mekaar uitleef; hekse in hulle bereidwiligheid om vir plaaslike boere te werk en boorlinge om gevaarlike vreemdelinge in hulle midde te verwelkom. Beide partye trek voordeel uit ‘n wedersyds voordelige uitruilverhouding wat plaaslik beskryf word as songsim. Tog is songsim nie neutraal nie. Waar heksery bewys en aanvaar word as ‘n lewenswerklikheid, beïnvloed heksery se morele vlek uitruilverhoudings só dat songsim dikwels boorlinge wat die risiko loop om met hekse saam te leef, bevoordeel. iv Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za Acknowledgements In January 2016, I arrived at Stellenbosch University to commence a PhD programme in Social Anthropology. I always provoked laughter amongst my friends and colleagues at seminars organised by the Graduate School of Arts and Social Sciences anytime I introduced my topic and indicated my intention to engage with known witches in “witch camps”. They were curious to know more about these so-called “witch camps”, while some openly showed disgust at my keen interest to live with and interview witches. Before commencing fieldwork, while I anticipated that I was going to face an enormous task dealing with “witches”, some of my colleagues thought that I was embarking on a mission too difficult to achieve. I wish to thank my supervisors Dr. Ilana van Wyk and Dr. Thomas Cousins for investing so much time in my work. I was highly impressed by the quality of supervision. While I particularly thank Dr. Ilana for not getting tired in reading the numerous revisions and shaping the work theoretically and ethnographically, and also providing excellent editorial services, I also thank Dr. Thomas for his critical engagement with my work at different stages and for help with formatting the final dissertation. I am grateful to the Graduate School of Arts and Social Sciences at the Stellenbosch University for providing full funding for my doctoral studies. The series of seminars organised by the Graduate School did prepare me to face every stage of my studies. I especially offer special thanks to Dr. Cindy-Lee Steenekamp for her encouragement and motivation when she realised that I was going through difficult moments in the course of my research. I had occasional interactions with some staff and students of the department of Sociology and Social Anthropology during which they provided useful ideas and suggestions to help improve my work. Professor Simon Bekker deserves to be acknowledged in this regard for his great interest in my work and for reading and commenting on some of my papers I presented at conferences. I also wish to show my gratitude to the departmental administrative staff, in particular, Genay and Nwabisa, for your support and care during my studentship in the department. I started my doctoral project with Dr. Antonio Thomas as my main supervisor before he resigned and left for the University of Cape Town. I thank him for introducing me to some relevant literature in anthropology. v Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za While writing up my dissertation, Anthropology Southern Africa (ASNA) and the African Consortium on Law and Religion Studies (ACLARS) provided generous funding for me to attend their annual conferences. These opportunities resulted in the publication of two papers from my thesis. I am thankful for these financial supports. I thank my friend, Dr. Fuseini Issahaka, for designing a map of my study area and proof-reading some of my initial dissertation chapters. I appreciate the kind advice of Professor Sara Berry (Johns Hopkins University), Professor Francis Nyamnjoh (University of Cape Town) and Professor Mensah Adinkrah (Central Michigan University). My contact with each of these
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