For more than a century, the practice of obeah has been illegal under Jamaican law.

But just as lawmakers were getting ready to push the maximum fine to $1 million for anyone found guilty of practising obeah, Justice Minister Delroy Chuck signalled that the quasi-religious ritual could soon become legal.

Chuck disclosed that already he has instructed the Law Reform Department to craft another submission for him to take to Cabinet to have the 1898 Obeah Act repealed.

“I would like to bring, for us to debate here in his House, a bill for repeal of the obeah law. It will be put in a broader concept in terms of scamming and other things,” Chuck announced in the House of Representatives yesterday. “There is no reason, Mr Speaker, why the Obeah Act should still remain on the statute book, and we hope to remove it in due course,” he insisted.Church leaders immediately signalled that there would be pushback against a move they argued was leading the nation away from God.(Jamaica Gleaner)…[+]