The American government is partnering the Chieftaincy and Culture Ministry to undertake a project on elimination of outmoded customary practices in the Northern Region.

The US Ambassador to Ghana Gene Cretz launched the one million cedi project in Tamale.

The project is to help eliminate or reduce harmful cultural practices that affect the lives of the people.

Speaking at separate functions in Gnani and Tamale the US Ambassador said superstition and witch craft had no place in modern Ghana.  He said it is important because of the human rights record Ghana had attained over the years.

Mr. Cretz said the concern of the US government was not to change dramatically the social values of Ghana but their goal was to ensure that the human rights of all Ghanaians were taken care off.

“The US government has no interest in interfering in the social or cultural practices of Ghana but was only interested in ensuring that Ghana as a  country accords each and every one of its citizens the right and total respect they deserve as human beings”.

He said the one million Ghana cedis the US government was offering the ministry was help the ministry rid the country of the bad cultural practice that hampered the lives of its people.

Mr. Cretz said the US government had other interventions for the Northern Region and reassured the people of the region especially the alleged witches of the US government’s commitment to bettering their situation and the rest of the people of the region.

The Minister of Chieftaincy and Culture Dr Henry Seidu Danaa said the practices and systems of 400 years ago were not exactly the same as the practices of today. He said the country now had laws and acts that guides the conduct of citizens in the country.

He said the ministry will soon hold seminars to educate chiefs on the new laws that govern the chieftaincy institution.

He said the ministry would fashion out new modalities to help eliminate practices that are injurious to the health and well-being of the people.

The Northern regional Minister Alhaji Mohammed Muniru Limuna said the problems of the region were proportionate to its size in terms of land mass and thanked the US government for identifying the problems of the region and supporting the region.

He said what the region is yearning for is peace because of the numerous chieftaincy and land conflicts and appealed to the US government to support the region in terms of technology so that chieftaincy ascension and land issues can be documented.