WOMAN ABSCONDS FROM FETISH PRIESTHOOD

According to reports emanating from Ajumako Kokoben ,in the Central Region, the chosen fetish priestess for the village has refused the traditional position and gone into hiding for fear of being kidnapped and forced into fetish priesthood.

The chosen priestess, one, Mrs. Sophia Nana Yaa Fosu Amakye declined to accept the fetish priestess role because of her  Christian faith which goes contrary to traditional worship of her forefathers and family elders.

Speaking on a condition of anonymity to this reporter at Ajumako-Kokoben, an indigene of the town and a family member to the runaway priestess said that Sophia was chosen to replace the aging chief priest who cannot perform his functions effectively as expected of him due to old age.

The source further disclosed that the fetish priest or  priestess role in the area rotates among the four  sub-families in that jurisdiction and that the baton has now fallen on Sophia’s family which subsequently led to her being chosen as spiritual  head of  the area to consult the gods on their behalf.

From the onset, Sophia who  lives  in Accra declined to accept that role and made it clear that her Christian faith is against idol worshiping which didn’t go on well with the community elders made up of the four sub-families.

 The Abusuapanyin [family head]  Opanyin Kojo Kakraba ,who  broke the news made it emphatically clear that they have consulted the gods and the aged fetish priest and that they have both given their consent  and approval for Sophia to be installed as the new spiritual head of the area.

The elders tried on several occasions to persuade Sophia to accept the role but to no avail which compelled them to threaten her [Sophia] with spiritual attacks from the gods. ‘’ They warned  that she and her nuclear family will surely incur the wrath of the angry gods of the area for declining to serve them’’, the source says.

Our source told this reporter that the elders promised that the gods will unleash madness, death, sickness, incurable diseases  and financial problems on her nuclear family until she makes a U-turn to assume her newly assigned duties .

True to their warning, the gods known for its severe punishment on individuals and families, carried out several physical and spiritual attacks on the chosen priestess Sophia and her husband.

Among the threats was that one early morning , the couple found in front of their  doorstep an earthenware  pot containing palm oil, boiled eggs and yam, a piece of red cloth as well as fowl  feathers  with a note stating ‘’ the gods will deal with you’’. This, according to the source is a serious threat in the African society’’.

Her husband once found the back windscreen of his car smashed by unknown persons even though the car was parked in the couple’s compound. Sophia herself was once accosted by some unknown persons and warned to be careful, some few meters to her office

The source further told this reporter that all the threats were carried out on the innocent family just to compel Sophia to accept the fetish priestess role against her wish. Sophia once fled Accra to Kumasi to stay with her auntie but to no avail because the auntie was threatened by the family elders to desist from harboring Sophia or incur the wrath of the gods.

The elders had vowed to make her life miserable so as to force her to accept the role as the  next fetish priestess.  Fearing for her life   and sensing danger ahead, Sophia was helped by a family friend to secure a traveling visa to Canada where she is currently residing. The source also disclosed that Sophia was pregnant when she fled Ghana.

However, her husband continues to receive threats of different kinds from unknown persons warning him to provide his runaway wife for some traditional rites or face the consequences of his actions, the source noted.