Ghana's mentally ill trapped between prayer and care

A pastor leads a prayer meeting at a station at the Achimota Forest Prayer Enclave in Accra on January 15, 2026. [AFP]

On a recent Friday morning, worshippers made their way in droves into the Achimota Forest, a stretch of green in Ghana's capital that doubles as an unlikely sanctuary for the desperate.

From the outside, the park and adjacent Accra Zoo appeared calm as branches swayed gently with the dry breeze. Inside, voices rose in tongues as worshippers prayed, some collapsing to the ground as if seized by unseen forces.