Desq, Coline

On the Absence of Conviction and Exoneration Despite the Profusion of Narratives fuelling Witchcraft Investigations in Ewe Country, Togo - 2024.


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‪December 2017. In Hanyigba-Todzi, a village in Ewe country in southwestern Togo, a woman admitted in public she had uttered curses that might have caused several deaths. Some suspected she was a witch, others thought she was crazy and innocent. Gossiping was rife, but despite the profusion of narratives which this event generated, the woman was neither exonerated nor convicted. Several factors account for this outcome, such as the pentecostalisation of society, the weakening of the power of the chieftaincy, responsible for judging people accused of witchcraft, but also individual strategies: some had an interest in accusing or exonerating her, while others opted out to protect themselves.‪