Witchcraft Accusations: Destroying Family, Community, and Church

Abstract

Timothy Stabell wrote an article entitled “The Modernity of Witchcraft” in which he stated that “witchcraft continues to be a topic that stirs passions and fears in many places around the world” (2010:460). This is particularly true of Africa where the belief in witchcraft is so pervasive that it can be viewed as a commonplace feature of many African spiritual beliefs (Ellis and ter Haar 2004:27). From a traditional African perspective, there is an undeniable connection between the material and spiritual worlds. This worldview supports the idea that there are spiritual reasons for ordinary everyday occurrences. Because sacred and secular realities are inseparable in African traditional beliefs, it is a common practice to attribute the misfortunes that happen to people to supernatural powers (Mbiti 1990:151; Akrong 2007:55; Asamoah-Gyadu 2015:23). Witchcraft is generally defined as the ability of a person or group of people to cause harm to others by use of supernatural powers (Hutton 2006:211). Generally speaking, witchcraft is any type of evil that negatively affects the fulfillment of human life (Akrong 2007:59, 65). In many African contexts, there is often a very thin line between the ideas of evil spirits, magic, sorcery, spell casting, curses, and the idea of witches or witchcraft (Quarmyne 2011:477). Because witchcraft is directed against others, it is generally perceived as “the anti-social crime par excellence” (Mencej 2015:112; Dovlo 2007:68). Witchcraft is believed to be against the preservation of life, which is the most central precept of African life. Therefore, fighting against witchcraft is considered a moral imperative for all those affected by it (Magoola 2012:99-100). As a result of the perception people hold on witchcraft, they treat with the greatest cruelty those suspected to be associated with it, even wishing to physically eliminate them from society (Nyabwari and Kagema 2014:9; Akrong 2007:65).