A recent study, believed to be the most detailed criminological analysis of ritual child homicide (i.e., the killing of children for ritual/occult purposes), shows that the ritual paedicide phenomenon is becoming a quite frequent occurrence in African settings, particularly Ghana and Kenya.

The study sought to explore the magnitude, characteristics, and motivations, as well as the religio-cultural and socio-economic contexts of ritual child homicide in Ghana and Kenya. This aim was realised through an in-depth analysis of ritual murder reports publicised on the websites of eight major news/media outlets (four in each country) between 2012 and 2021 and semi-structured interviews involving 28 academics and experts.

In Ghana, 160 ritual homicides were identified between 2012 and 2021; and of this figure, 94 (about 58.8%) were children. This suggests that an average of 9.4 children fell victim to ritual paedicide in Ghana each year between 2012 and 2021. In Kenya, 102 people fell victim to ritual homicide, and 66 (approximately 64.7%) of the victims were children. This indicates that an average rate of 6.6 ritual paedicides occurred annually in the country during the study period.

Poor parental supervision was the major cause of the abduction and eventual murder of the victims. Thus, in both countries, more than 70% of the victims under 10 years old were kidnaped and murdered while: (1) going to or returning home from school, (2) fetching water from a stream unaccompanied, (3) playing outside their homes unsupervised, or (4) running errands by themselves for relatives or members of their community.

Aside from the draining of blood, the body parts mostly extracted from victims were the head, limbs, genitalia/private parts, and tongue. In Ghana, the head was the most sought-after human organ; in Kenya, the limbs were the body parts mostly removed from the victims. The extraction of the private parts was common in both countries.

The arrest rates were extremely low in both countries. In Kenya, over 90% of perpetrators were not apprehended. In both Ghana and Kenya, most of the perpetrators (approximately 60%) were aged between 20 and 39 years, and over 85% were of low socio-economic backgrounds or unemployed. The study further reveals that a single ritual child homicide usually involves multiple offenders.

Unlike other types of homicide, ritual paedicide involves strangers nearly as often as it involves family members and acquaintances. In Ghana, fathers, uncles, and stepfathers were the dominant offenders in cases where victims and perpetrators were known to be related. However, the involvement of close relatives in the perpetration of ritual child homicide was seemingly rare in Kenya.

The dominant motivation for ritual paedicide in Ghana was pecuniary gain. Some were promised money in exchange for the supply of specific human body parts. Others first murdered their victims before searching for prospective buyers such as juju practitioners.

Some offenders had consulted juju specialists for some assistance or favours and had been instructed to provide specific body parts to be used for potent medicines capable of producing the desired effect. However, in Kenya, many perpetrators are seemingly killed in fulfilment of their obligations as members of devil worship or occult sects.

The major factors contributing to the persistence of ritual child homicide are obsession with juju, economic hardship, illiteracy, inefficient criminal justice system, authorities’ failure to bring juju practitioners or traditional spiritualists under closer scrutiny, and the emergence of a new consumerist ethos—the unrestrained quest for luxurious effects. The study offers recommendations for combatting this disturbing phenomenon.

This important study, titled “Ritual Child Homicides in Ghana and Kenya: A Criminological Analysis”, is published in Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence.