Australian High Commissioner to Ghana, Gregory Andrews, has expressed deep concerns about the mistreatment of elderly women in the country in the name of witchcraft, saying such acts are inhumane and not Ghanaian.
Calling on communities to respect the rights of elderly women in society, he said, "I do not believe there are witches, and if others believe, what I want is that they should not abuse them."
The Commissioner expressed the concerns when he interacted with alleged witches at the Gnani Witches Camp in the Yendi Municipality of the Northern Region on Thursday.
His visit to the camp was facilitated by ActionAid Ghana, a non-governmental organisation, which was working to reintegrate alleged witches communities.
The High Commissioner's visit to the camp was to show love to the inmates and learn about their challenges and how to address them.
The inmates, a population of 145 women and 89 men including children, raised challenges of lack of accommodation, poor health care, and feeding.
Gregory Andrews noted that Australia and Ghana, as members of the United Nations, were opposed to abuse of elderly women, adding that both countries had a responsibility to protect the human rights of women.
Touching on the recent killing of a 90-year-old woman at Kafaba in the East Gonja Municipality of the Savannah Region, he said "Let us all work together to show love to elderly women."
In response to an appeal for support by one of the inmates, Mr Andrews indicated that the Australian High Commission had a small aid programme, stating that he would talk to his team to see how best the inmates could benefit from it.
One of the inmates at the camp, Nlangni Jato, thanked the High Commissioner for visiting the camp and appealed to him to help address their challenges.
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