The management of Hope Gardens in St Andrew came under heavy pressure from civil society in recent days after a flyer surfaced on social media advising that a group pushing for repeal of the Obeah Act was planning to host a candlelight vigil there on Wednesday.

The African spiritualist non-profit organisation, Unuchi Foundation, organisers of the Iche Nche Obia event, had to resort to hosting the vigil virtually. On the initial flyer created for the event, people who intended to attend were encouraged to bring a candle. The flyer stated that the vigil was to honour ancestors persecuted for Obeah and to uplift practitioners who have maintained African spiritual traditions despite legal and social risks.

A reliable source close to Hope Gardens management told the Jamaica Observer that Hope Gardens received a booking from the group. However, the reservation was never finalised and, based on the backlash after the flyer surfaced, the management decided that it wouldn’t be able to host the event.

“Initially it was understood to be a candlelight ceremony that was going to be held. Based on the initial information, a tentative booking was made, stressing that approval would have to be granted when better particulars regarding the event was had. The team only had the name of the organiser and no background information on what this vigil was about,” the source said.

“Maybe a week or so ago information came by way of the flyer. A week ago, someone sent the flyer to Hope Gardens of the event being promoted, notwithstanding that formal approval was not granted. The organisers were contacted and told that based on the nature of the event they could not be accommodated at this time. On that basis, the booking did not go forward,” the source added.

Additionally, the source denied reports that the group had been locked out of the venue despite having an official booking for the event advertised to begin at 6:00 pm.

“This is a very controversial matter and the management does not want to be a part of this or any controversy at all. A lot of people started calling and coming up here. They put pressure on Hope Gardens. Because an event wasn’t booked, the gate was closed. The gate is usually closed by 6:30 pm. No one was locked out. That event just wasn’t booked and there were no other events,” the source added.

One man, who is a frequent visitor to Hope Gardens, told the Observer that on a weekly basis a group would gather, light candles, and chant incantations.

“Right yah suh, at least 30 people would gather here. I don’t go around them but sometimes you would see them jumping around and chanting. I don’t pay them any mind,” he said, pointing to the spot at which the group would normally meet.

One woman who is also a frequent visitor to Hope Gardens shared that mostly on Wednesdays she sees church people as well as other groups of people who wear head wrappings.

Asked what her thoughts were regarding the group’s push for the Obeah Act to be repealed, the woman said that the practice was handed down through generations and will be hard to suppress, but said she didn’t believe it should made legal.

“No matter what, it is still going to be there. It’s a generational act. In some countries it is tradition, so it cannot be wiped out. When you are driving past the embassy in taxi with some of them coming from Hope Gardens, you hear them chanting and moving their hands strangely and saying ‘visa granted’,” she said.

On the website Unuchi.org, the group, founded on August 1, 2023, lists itself as an “information, education, and advocacy non-profit centred on the empowerment and healing of African peoples through Obeah and other African knowledge traditions”. Additionally, it states that its mission is to create a world in which people of African descent know themselves.

The foundation, which lists various partner agencies in culture and academia, says it is committed to the positive exploration, exposition, and preservation of this spirituality, and is focused on “addressing the epistemicide caused by slavery, colonialism, and the continued demonisation of African cultures”.

On Wednesday morning, a group of Christians marched, sang, and prayed in Spanish Town, St Catherine, taking a stance against Unuchi Foundation and its intentions. The Christians expressed worry that a flood of demonic forces would be unleashed in Jamaica if the folk practice is legalised.