An Evaluation Of Akan And Konkomba Witchcraft Trials & Beliefs In Ghana: In Dialogue With The Biblical, Anthropological And Psychiatrists Perspectives
Kwasi Atta Agyapong 
Issue: Vol.1 No.7 December 2020 Article 1 pp. 92-102
DOI : https://doi.org/10.38159/pecanep.2020121 | Published online 18th December 2020.
© 2020 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
The study illustrates how witchcraft accusations are confirmed and how the accused are tried in the Akan and Konkomba context in Ghana. It further examines the legitimacy of witchcraft beliefs through dialogue with the biblical, anthropological and psychiatrist’s perspectives. The methodology used in the qualitative research was the interpretive paradigm which explored the views of 40 Akan and 20 Konkomba respondents through interviews. Other kinds of literature were used as secondary sources in the discourse to triangulate the findings. The study findings suggest that those who often lead the witchcraft trials among the Akan are the chiefs and traditional priests (akɔmfo) whiles the chief priest and landowner or the Utindana leads the trials in the Konkomba context at the Gnani witch camp in the Yendi municipality in Northern Ghana. Furthermore, there are similarities in the processes of witchcraft trials in the Akan and Konkomba contexts as well as divergences. The legitimacy of the beliefs in the activities of witchcraft in Ghana was tested from other perspectives and some of the beliefs were putative while others were negated. The study postulates that witchcraft beliefs in Ghana cannot be negated entirely. The research contributes to knowledge by highlighting the gaging of witchcraft trials and beliefs in Ghana.
Keywords: witchcraft, trials, Pentecostals/ charismatics, anthropological, psychiatrists
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Kwasi Atta Agyapong, BTh, MA Pentecostal Studies, School of Theology and Missions, Pentecost University – Ghana. He is an Ordained Minister of The Church of Pentecost, and currently the District Minister for Nkawkaw Asuboni, Eastern Region, and Ghana. His areas of interest are Biblical Studies, Witchcraft Studies, Pentecostal Studies, and Anthropology.
Agyapong K. A., “An Evaluation of Akan and Konkomba Witchcraft Trials & Beliefs in Ghana: In Dialogue with the Biblical, Anthropological and Psychiatrists Perspectives” Pentecostalism, Charismaticism and Neo-Prophetic Movements Journal 1, no 7 (2020): 92-102. https://doi.org/10.38159/pecanep.2020121
© 2020 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Publishers. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
