{"id":654069,"date":"2019-07-10T21:13:48","date_gmt":"2019-07-10T21:13:48","guid":{"rendered":" <br><div id=\"\"><p>A competition pitting witchdoctors against each other in a battle of skills this weekend in eSwatini \u2014 formerly known as Swaziland \u2014 has been banned, according to a government statement.<\/p>\n<p>Organisers had planned to hold the competi"},"modified":"2019-07-10T21:13:48","modified_gmt":"2019-07-10T21:13:48","slug":"forthcoming-witchraft-and-magic-competition-banned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/07\/10\/forthcoming-witchraft-and-magic-competition-banned\/","title":{"rendered":"Forthcoming &#8220;Witchraft And Magic Competition&#8221; Banned"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p>A competition pitting witchdoctors against each other in a battle of skills this weekend in eSwatini \u2014 formerly known as Swaziland \u2014 has been banned, according to a government statement.<\/p>\n<p>Organisers had planned to hold the competition in Manzini, the second city of eSwatini, a land-locked country in southern Africa ruled by King Mswati III, one of the world\u2019s last absolute monarchs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe proposed competition of witchcraft and magic spells was unheard of in the country and it was regarded as an anomaly in the lives of the people of eSwatini,\u201d government spokesman Percy Simelane said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGovernment will not sanction any competition of that nature. Anyone who will persist with any activity related to witchcraft will face the full might of the law.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_968399\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.ghanamma.com\/2019\/07\/Witchcraft-logo.-Photo-Amino-Apps.jpg\"  class=\"wp-image-968399 lazyload\" alt=\"Witchcraft and Magic competition banned\" width=\"1280\" height=\"1707\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-968399 lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.ghanamma.com\/2019\/07\/Witchcraft-logo.-Photo-Amino-Apps.jpg\" alt=\"Witchcraft and Magic competition banned\" width=\"1280\" height=\"1707\"  \/><\/noscript><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Witchcraft logo. Photo Amino Apps<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The statement, released on Tuesday, said the Witchcraft Act of 1889 defines witchcraft, sorcery or the practice of voodoo as a punishable offence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGovernment cannot sit back and watch while the lives of the citizens of this country are exposed to illegal and weird practices that have the potential to poison the minds of (Swazi people), especially children,\u201d Simelane added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGovernment will not allow the voodoo competition \u2014 period!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>eSwatini has a population of 1.3 million people, with many following Christianity and indigenous beliefs.<\/p>\n<p>The Times of Swaziland on Wednesday quoted \u201cAfrica Gama\u201d, the organiser of the event, as saying the competition would have pit witchdoctors against traditional healers as under the previous king Sobhuza II, who died in 1982.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe King was concerned about unnecessary competition among healers so he called them to one place so that they could demonstrate their powers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was competing with traditional healers, doctors, and prophets from across the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script>\n\t!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n\t\tn.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;\n\t\tn.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n\t\tt.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,\n\t\tdocument,'script','https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n\tfbq('init', '247107802609931');\n\tfbq('track', 'PageView');\n<\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A competition pitting witchdoctors against each other in a battle of skills this weekend in eSwatini \u2014 formerly known as Swaziland \u2014 has been banned, according to a government statement. Organisers had planned to hold the competition in Manzini, the second city of eSwatini, a land-locked country in southern Africa ruled by King Mswati III, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":654070,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-654069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-odd-but-true"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Forthcoming &quot;Witchraft And Magic Competition&quot; Banned - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/07\/10\/forthcoming-witchraft-and-magic-competition-banned\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Forthcoming &quot;Witchraft And Magic Competition&quot; Banned - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"A competition pitting witchdoctors against each other in a battle of skills this weekend in eSwatini \u2014 formerly known as Swaziland \u2014 has been banned, according to a government statement. Organisers had planned to hold the competition in Manzini, the second city of eSwatini, a land-locked country in southern Africa ruled by King Mswati III, [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Witchcraft.-Photo-dreamstime-e1562787725185.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ghana News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/10\\\/forthcoming-witchraft-and-magic-competition-banned\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/10\\\/forthcoming-witchraft-and-magic-competition-banned\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ghana News\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/53d06a757a4242f113d200e3c290c036\"},\"headline\":\"Forthcoming &#8220;Witchraft And Magic Competition&#8221; Banned\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-07-10T21:13:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/10\\\/forthcoming-witchraft-and-magic-competition-banned\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":290,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/10\\\/forthcoming-witchraft-and-magic-competition-banned\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/Witchcraft.-Photo-dreamstime-e1562787725185.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Odd But True\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/10\\\/forthcoming-witchraft-and-magic-competition-banned\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/10\\\/forthcoming-witchraft-and-magic-competition-banned\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/10\\\/forthcoming-witchraft-and-magic-competition-banned\\\/\",\"name\":\"Forthcoming \\\"Witchraft And Magic Competition\\\" Banned - Ghanamma.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/10\\\/forthcoming-witchraft-and-magic-competition-banned\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/10\\\/forthcoming-witchraft-and-magic-competition-banned\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/Witchcraft.-Photo-dreamstime-e1562787725185.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-07-10T21:13:48+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/53d06a757a4242f113d200e3c290c036\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/10\\\/forthcoming-witchraft-and-magic-competition-banned\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/10\\\/forthcoming-witchraft-and-magic-competition-banned\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/Witchcraft.-Photo-dreamstime-e1562787725185.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/Witchcraft.-Photo-dreamstime-e1562787725185.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":974},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanamma.com\",\"description\":\"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2019\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/53d06a757a4242f113d200e3c290c036\",\"name\":\"Ghana News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ghana News\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Forthcoming \"Witchraft And Magic Competition\" Banned - Ghanamma.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/07\/10\/forthcoming-witchraft-and-magic-competition-banned\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Forthcoming \"Witchraft And Magic Competition\" Banned - Ghanamma.com","twitter_description":"A competition pitting witchdoctors against each other in a battle of skills this weekend in eSwatini \u2014 formerly known as Swaziland \u2014 has been banned, according to a government statement. Organisers had planned to hold the competition in Manzini, the second city of eSwatini, a land-locked country in southern Africa ruled by King Mswati III, [&hellip;]","twitter_image":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Witchcraft.-Photo-dreamstime-e1562787725185.jpg","twitter_creator":"@ghanamma","twitter_site":"@ghanamma","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ghana News","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/07\/10\/forthcoming-witchraft-and-magic-competition-banned\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/07\/10\/forthcoming-witchraft-and-magic-competition-banned\/"},"author":{"name":"Ghana News","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/#\/schema\/person\/53d06a757a4242f113d200e3c290c036"},"headline":"Forthcoming &#8220;Witchraft And Magic Competition&#8221; Banned","datePublished":"2019-07-10T21:13:48+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/07\/10\/forthcoming-witchraft-and-magic-competition-banned\/"},"wordCount":290,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/07\/10\/forthcoming-witchraft-and-magic-competition-banned\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Witchcraft.-Photo-dreamstime-e1562787725185.jpg","articleSection":["Odd But True"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/07\/10\/forthcoming-witchraft-and-magic-competition-banned\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/07\/10\/forthcoming-witchraft-and-magic-competition-banned\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/07\/10\/forthcoming-witchraft-and-magic-competition-banned\/","name":"Forthcoming \"Witchraft And Magic Competition\" Banned - Ghanamma.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/07\/10\/forthcoming-witchraft-and-magic-competition-banned\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/07\/10\/forthcoming-witchraft-and-magic-competition-banned\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Witchcraft.-Photo-dreamstime-e1562787725185.jpg","datePublished":"2019-07-10T21:13:48+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/#\/schema\/person\/53d06a757a4242f113d200e3c290c036"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/07\/10\/forthcoming-witchraft-and-magic-competition-banned\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/07\/10\/forthcoming-witchraft-and-magic-competition-banned\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Witchcraft.-Photo-dreamstime-e1562787725185.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Witchcraft.-Photo-dreamstime-e1562787725185.jpg","width":1280,"height":974},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/","name":"Ghanamma.com","description":"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/#\/schema\/person\/53d06a757a4242f113d200e3c290c036","name":"Ghana News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ghana News"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=654069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654069\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/654070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=654069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=654069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=654069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}