Since trokosi has been outlawed in Ghana, why is it still practiced?
Through the efforts and influence of Christians, the practice of trokosi was outlawed in Ghana in 1998. However, it continues because it is not enforced. Ghanaians we have spoken with suggest that there are at least two reasons it is not enforced. The first is the government’s natural and appropriate reluctance to interfere with the customs of the people. The second and perhaps more powerful reason is the widespread fear that anyone who opposes the priests of the shrines will be cursed. The idols of many of the shrines are war gods obtained at a time when the people were seeking help in tribal wars over land issues. The basic function of the idols is to kill, so people live in abject fear of the shrines and the priests who serve there. The problem of fear is illustrated in an interview a worker with another organization had a few years ago with the woman who was then the first lady of Ghana. “You speak up for women’s and children’s rights all the time,” he said. “Why do you not speak u
