The National Commission on Culture has called on the Ghana Police Service and the Judiciary to expedite action in achieving justice for the late Madam Akua Denteh and her family.

The Commission said such acts were unacceptable and should not be countenanced in the country. It, therefore, called for a coordinated approach, especially by traditional leaders, to put an end to such criminal acts.

A release issued to the Ghana News Agency in Accra said the laws of the nation did not condone instant and mob justice.

The Commission went on to condemn in no uncertain terms the inhumane act meted out to the 90-year-old grandmother, mother and sister.

"This barbaric and dastardly act should not happen to anyone. We are happy the so-called priestess at the centre of this criminal act has been arrested by the police while four accomplices have surrendered to the law. It is our hope that justice would be served expeditiously."

The Commission had observed with dismay the unfortunate prevailing phenomena in our society, where some pastors and soothsayers stood on unsubstantiated circumstances to label people, especially the aged, as witches or wizards, the release said.

It said throughout history, witchcraft has always been a spiritual matter that has not been proven or verified with empirical or legally accepted evidence.

It, therefore, entreated the public to refrain from the habit of labelling the elderly as witches and wizards without any shred of empirical evidence.

"Old age has no relationship with witchcraft. If indeed it exists, persons of all age groups are susceptible to acquiring the spirit of a witch or a wizard. We must, as a people, rid ourselves of this misconception that compels some individuals to neglect the aged. Old age is not a curse but a blessing."

The release said the aged like Akua Denteh and her contemporaries should be allowed to enjoy their old age and pass on peacefully, and not under such traumatic and gruesome circumstances.