OccupyGhana urges AG to prosecute Gborbu Wulomo of Nungua for marrying 12-year-old girl
A political pressure group, OccupyGhana, has called on the Attorney-General, Godfred Dame, to prosecute the Gborbu Wulomo of Nungua for engaging in a form of customary marriage with a 12-year-old girl.
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On March 30, 2024, the 63-year-old Gborbu Wulomo of Nungua, Nuumo Borketey Laweh Tsuru XXXIII, participated in a traditional marriage ceremony with a 12-year-old girl, sparking public outrage.
Numerous personalities and institutions have joined in condemning the act and have demanded the arrest of the 63-year-old, who claimed the girl would not fulfill marital duties until she turned 18.
The Nungua Traditional Council has defended the marriage, stating that it was only a betrothal due to the absence of virgins above the age of nine in Nungua. They explained that their customs required the Chief Priest to marry a virgin, and the betrothal was intended to ward off other men.
The Ghana Police Service has announced that it placed the girl and her mother under police protection and is collaborating with the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection, as well as the Department of Social Welfare, to provide support to the girl.
In a press statement, OccupyGhana described the marriage as archaic, illegal, abhorrent, and a form of pedophilia masquerading as tradition and custom.
The group emphasized that both the 1992 Constitution and the 1998 Children's Act set the legal age for marriage at 18 for both boys and girls. It stressed that any marriage, whether traditional, Islamic, or statutory, is a contract between the two parties (and respective families in the case of traditional marriages).
"A child does not have the capacity to enter into any contract with anyone, and therefore no child is capable of consenting to a marriage. Yet, the spiritual leader of Nungua thinks he is above the law and has reportedly married a 12-year-old girl," the statement said.
OccupyGhana also pointed out that the issue has highlighted a practice that has been ongoing unnoticed for years. Data from about 10 years ago indicates that 19 percent of girls in Ghana were married before age 18, and five percent were married before their 15th birthday.
"Closely linked to this abhorrent practice are teen pregnancy numbers. Seventy-six out of every 1000 births in Ghana are by adolescents between the ages of 15 and 19. We need to do better as a society! Child marriage, besides being illegal in Ghana, is a terrible and distasteful practice," the statement added.
The group stressed that a 12-year-old girl is nowhere close to being a woman and is just a child whose childhood is robbed by being forced into marriage. It called on the Attorney-General not only to prosecute those directly involved but also all those whose conspiracy and abetment facilitated the marriage.
OccupyGhana also urged the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection and the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs to implement stiffer measures aimed at eradicating "this tasteless practice."
"Children are our future, and protecting them should be a paramount aim of our whole society. Let's do this for God and Country," the statement stressed.