Paper short abstract:

This paper examines the encounter between state, church and civil society groups working in a so-called 'witch camp', where a government is committed to discouraging its recognition in Ghana.

Paper long abstract:

Where a government is committed to discouraging recognition of witch camps, it creates a structural void for many vulnerable individuals and groups. The role of religious actors in providing support and enabling advocacy for structurally invisible groups is a crucial case of the unique space that faith-based organisations occupy in development. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Ghana, this paper examines the encounter between state, church and civil society groups working in a so-called 'witch camp'. A major strategy of witchcraft containment practice in northern Ghana is to isolate accused witches into 'witch camps'. Accusations of witchcraft have significantly increased in Ghana as the country endeavours to implement a neoliberal agenda. In this, the economic successes of some individuals have brought about tensions with those who have not. For the most part, the state neither acknowledges nor actively engages with these camps and in the process leaves a significant level of welfare stress. The problem in this case, however, is that in the process of ostracism, the shortfall of kinship and extended social networks that typically pick up the gap in welfare needs for individuals have also broken down. Reliance on civil society groups too is limited. It is in this context that the provision of resources by the Christian Churches in the witch camps is crucial for basic survival such as water, clothes, food and recreation of a community of belonging.