The Unvisited Witches Camp of Gambaga
on The Ghana Experience (Ghana), 15/Jan/2011 12:42, 34 days ago
2-14 January 2011It was the second day of the year 2011 and also a day off being the weekend. We decided to spend the day by going somewhere out. Gambaga, about which I have read in the travel guide book, seemed to be a convenient option as it was likely to be a day trip from Bolgatanga. We were four people who gathered for the trip, me, Jason, Jillian and Olke.We started early in the morning and made our way to Walewale, the junction town in between Bolgatanga and Gambaga, where we got off the tro and found another tro for Gambaga. There were a number of buses and tro standing at the junction. One man asked us by shouting loudly,“where?”, I had to answer him in the same volume level, “Gambaga”. The man smiled and directed towards the right bus. As we went there, as the money was given to the ticket seller and after giving him the money, we were given one wooden chip each which were taken back when the bus was aboutto start. It took about 30 minutes to get the bus full.The real painful part of the journey started from Walewale onwards. The road taking us all the way up to Gambaga was dirt road and the bus ride was dusty and bumpy. The bus stopped at number of places as the passengers alighted and boarded. Suddenly and unexpectedly tar road patch came in between when I thought at last the dirt road had ended but Jillian showed me on the book that it was going to be only short. Exactly as the book showed, it ended abruptly and we were back on the dirt road. There was no way anybody could be asked“why is it so?”. I thought that I should stop thinking about the questions starting with why while I am here in Ghana but it is impossible. Otherwise there is no point in volunteering. But still I did not went in for the enquiry about why only small patch of tar road in the middle of nowhere.As we alighted in Gambaga, the town seemed to be totally inactive. It was obvious that there were very few people on the road because it was 12:30 in the afternoon and it was Sunday. One person who was not unclean and looked insane approached and started following us by telling us that he could help us by taking us to whatever our destination was. Nobody had any idea about how to approach the Witches Camp, which we wished to see. As we wanted to get rid of that person, we decided to have some cold drink before we started for our destination. But the man won, as we did not find any convenient place to sit and have cold drink near the lorry station and we just followed him as he took us to a small open hut where few people were seating. A woman was busy preparing the yam chips nearby and she by washing them in the dirtiest of water I had ever seen being used for food preparation.He told us that we shall have to wait till the youth who was seating there under the hut would go the chief and get his permission for allowing us in the Witches Camp. The youth returned and another man who was seating there took over the scene. He introduced himself as the prince and grandson of the Chief. He told us that as per the African tradition, being a foreigner in the Chief's land, we were supposed to greet him and give him a small gift of Kola nuts and or some money. The arguments started thereafter and they are given below,Olke: But why we have to pay the chief? I have been living in Bolgatanga for last one and half year. I have met so many chiefs like those of Zuarungu, Vea and Tongo. I have never given them any money.Prince: Madam, you have to respect our African tradition. It is not like that we want to cheat you or ask for your money after seeing your white skin.Sachin: But you know that happens with us at many places. Our experience has always been like that.Jillian: Some of our friends have visited here before. They never told us about giving any money to anybody.Then she called one of our friends to check whether it was right to give money to the Chief.Prince: You don't know Gambaga chief. He is superior to all the chiefs in this area. He is even superior to the one in Yendi. (Yendi is major traditional Chieftaincy area and infamous for the rivaling families claiming for chieftaincy and resulting into killing of the chief.) and I am the prince. I work in Tamale and I know what I am talking about. (talking to Jillian who was busy talking with the friend on the phone) Do you understand?Jason: Brother, she understands English.Jillian finished talking on the phone.Prince: Have you finished talking on the phone? What does your friend say? Am I right?Jillian: Well you can see the book which we are having nothing is mentioned properly here that we should pay something to the chief. But still we are now ready to pay.Prince: So you don't believe me. You know chief is taking rest now. He is sleeping. You'll have to come some other time. It is not possible to visit the Witches camp now.There were some further discussions but there was no point in arguing the prince and certainly we did not want to lose our pride by begging him to allow us to the witches camp, we left the scene. We found a spot and took some cold drinks and headed to lorry station. We found that buses on their way to Walewale get full by the time they reach Gambaga so we had to go to Nalerigu, a town further up on the road from where tros start. We found that there was a small attraction of ancient wall built by a local King, which we thought we would explore but the taxi driver cautioned us that we might lose the bus and since it was Sunday, we might end up without having any transport to get back to Walewale afterwards. We had to drop the plan to visit the wall and we took the bus back to Walewale and then returned to Bolgatanga.In the night we again went through the Bradt guide book to check whether it was mentioned in the book about giving money to the chief. It was mentioned but we had completely overlooked it. The first line in the paragraph about Gambaga said,“it is the trail for exploring a part of the country, which least visited by the tourists.” We laughed over the fact though we did not visit the camp, we did that.I am giving some information about the Witches Camp here. Belief in witchcraft is huge here. Many times women are the victims of accusation of being witch for some bad things happening in the family or surroundings. Such women are outcast and they have to live their villages and go somewhere else. Chief of Gambaga is supposed to have some magical powers due which these women are not able to practice their witchcraft as their power becomes weak in that village. Some two hundred women from various parts of the country have taken refuge in this village and there is now a small hamlet where these women live. They earn their livelihoods by selling firewood and some other petty businesses and some are living their with their children as well. It was claimed that some were cured and lost their witch power completely and they went back to their home villages but were beaten and again sent away. Due to this reason, women feel that they are safe in Gambaga and do not want to return to their homes. A Christian organization with the help of Gambaga chief is trying to support these women. If one strikes conversation with other Ghanaians, including the educated lot, they say that they are real witches and have magical powers and in interest of all the people it is best that they remain in Gambaga.Why only women? Why Gambaga is the only refuge for them? How were they started to be termed as witches? We won't be able to find answers to any of those questions because we could not make it to their camp and don't have the energy to go back to Gambaga on that long dusty and bumpy ride.