Ghanaian investigative reporter Anas Aremeyaw Anas brought to light the little-known practice in northern Ghana of “ spirit killings,” the murder of physically deformed children believed to be evil spirits. To this day in Ghana, ritual killings still do occur as they do elsewhere in Africa.

However, there is no doubt that beliefs in the spirit world were involved. During the trial, British colonial investigators concentrated on the murder itself and little, if at all, on the “juju” aspect. Because the perpetrators of this horrific act were so brazen and cavalier about it, they were arrested within relatively short order and ultimately hanged to death. In this case, the aim of the ritual murder was to “make medicine” that would help win a court case in a bitterly-fought chieftaincy dispute. the removal of body parts such as the eyes, lips, or genitalia. Called the Bridge House murder for the location at which it occurred, it demonstrated the gruesome hallmarks of a ritual murder, i.e. In 1945, a 10-year-old girl in the Ghanaian town of Elmina, was found dead on the beach after a ritual killing. The words juju, voodoo, and witchcraft are among those that describe how things occur in the physical world as a result of the supernatural. The importance of curses, the ancestors, and the gods in African daily life cannot be overstated.

If a hospital-dispensed medication is not working for someone who is physically ill, he or she may go to a traditional priest for a consultation and/or indigenous herbal treatment. The Trokosi custom is one example of the intersection of the tangible and supernatural in Ghana, where, unlike the West, these realms are not necessarily thought of as disconnected.

Wife of the Gods by Kwei Quartey