Exoneration of Alleged Witches in Colonial Maryland -By Leo Igwe

This testimony urges the general assembly of Maryland to vote yes to HJ0002 and support the exoneration of alleged witches of colonial Maryland. I am a Nigerian citizen with relatives who are American citizens and residents in Maryland. I hold a doctoral degree in religious studies and wrote my doctoral thesis on witchcraft accusations in Northern Ghana. In Ghana, where I did my fieldwork, accused witches are still abused and violated as was the case in colonial Maryland. In my thesis, I explored the dynamics and contestations of witchcraft allegations in post-colonial Africa, where witch-hunting rages and ravages the lives of many people. In 2020, I founded the Advocacy for Alleged Witches to address this problem, to work, respond, and campaign to end witch hunts in the region. As an organization, we are dedicated to ending witch hunts and ritual attacks in Africa. The British Broadcasting Corporation, South African Broadcasting Corporation and other international media channels have featured our work and campaign in their reports.