Abolish harmful cultural practices - Josephine Oppong-Yeboah urges Traditional Leaders
Media personality and Gender advocate, Josephine Oppong-Yeboah, has urged the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, to engage traditional authorities in the country to abolish traditional and cultural practices that undermine the fundamental human rights and development of children.
Advertisement
According to her, inasmuch as cultures must be respected by all, cultures that are detrimental to the wellbeing of children cannot be tolerated and accepted in modern times.
“We should not hide under the umbrella of culture to engage in practices that are detrimental to the development and growth of our children,” she said.
Ms Oppong-Yeboah commenting on the alleged traditional marriage between the Gborbu Wulomo, Nuumo Borketey Laweh XXXIII and a 12-year-old girl in Accra last Saturday, March 30, 2024, said the Children’s Act, 1998 (Act 560) frowns on such marriages.
The alleged marriage ceremony between the Gborbu Wulomo, Nuumo Borketey Laweh XXXIII and a 12-year-old girl has attracted a lot of condemnation from many Ghanaians and organisations.
For Ms Oppong-Yeboah, it is time the Gender Ministry to advocate for the rights of children, particularly girls that are given in for marriage at early ages of their lives.
"We cannot sit down and keep quiet for people to use culture to destroy the future of children, particularly young girls," she said, adding "The effect of what has happened is that it will serve as a motivation for people who desire to marry teenagers to do so."
Ms Oppong-Yeboah was of the view that opinion leaders and highly respected elders of society must serve as role models for people in positive light as many people look up to them.
"Our culture is beautiful, and nobody is interested in looking down on anybody's culture, but we cannot appreciate things that are detrimental to any child’s right," she said, adding “such a culture cannot find space in our time.”
For her, teenage girls must not be pressured into contracted marriages, saying “there is no way a child of 12 years old will understand the import of marriage or consent to it."
Ms Oppong-Yeboah added, “what happened is a breach against the girl's fundamental human rights and must be condemned by all well-meaning Ghanaians.”