The Gonja traditional council has praised the Tamale High Court’s conviction of two women over the murder of 90-year-old Akua Denteh at Kafaba in the Savannah Region.
The two, Mohammed Serena and Latifa Bomaye, were convicted to 12 years in prison to run concurrently for the murder.
Speaking on Eyewitness News on Citi FM, Tolonpewura Abdula Ahmed, who is also a member of the Akua Denteh Foundation, said that although they had expected longer sentences for the two convicts, the 12 years each is sufficient to help reduce such acts in the area.
“The court’s decision is very good and commendable because the sentences will run concurrently, which means 12 years each for each of them. This is quite good because what they did is not acceptable within the Gonja traditional system.
“In the past, if someone was accused of witchcraft, they would be taken to a place in Buipe to go through some purification and then brought back. If the person was a woman, she would be given to the chief. If the person was a man, he would either be taken to another place or declared an undesirable person and taken out of the area. Torturing or beating alleged witches is not part of our tradition.”
He added that to prevent future occurrences, the traditional council appealed to the then Gonja overlord and his council to allow the law to deal with people who commit such heinous acts.
“Immediately, we met with the then Yagbonwura and his team and explained to them that they should not shield those people when such issues happen, but hand them over to the law so that they can be punished accordingly.”
