Wulomo's Marriage To Minor: This Marriage Should Be Dissolved - NPP National Organizer
NPP National Youth Organizer, Henry Nana Boakye has condemned the customary marriage between the 63-year old Gborbu Wulomo (Ga priest) and a 16-year-old girl.
The marriage sparked controversies after a video surfaced showing the priest named Nuumo Borketey Laweh XXXIII performing marriage rites for the young girl who was initially said to be 12 years old until later clarification from the Nungua traditional leaders stating otherwise concerning the girl's age.
Many people have spoken against this marriage but there are others like former NDC Regional Chairman, Bernard Allotey Jacobs, and former Attorney General, Ayikoi Otoo among others who support this custom.
According to Ayikoi Otoo in a statement, this is not a marriage but betrothal in that the child has been betrothed to the deity.
Addressing the issue during a panel discussion on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" show, Henry Nana Boakye, popularly called Nana B, found the clarifications and explanations aimed at justifying the incident to be very alarming.
Quoting some provisions in the Children's Act (1998) and amended in 2016, Nana B stated emphatically the portion that reads that "no person shall force a child to be betrothed, to be the subject of a dowry transaction or to be married. The minimum age of marriage of whatever kind shall be eighteen years" to buttress his point and stressed "whether she is 16 or 12 years, per this law, she is a minor and you can't betroth a minor...It is also so clear that the minimum age of marriage for whatever kind, whether spiritual marriage or marriage to a deity shall be 18 years."
He called for the renunciation of these traditions and customs, asserting "we are not saying that all the customs and all the traditions of our Ga people should be cancelled but this particular one, it is outmoded".
He also disagreed with those calling for the arrest and prosecution of the Gborbu Wulomo and the leaders who performed the marriage rite saying "we cannot be aggressive by application of the law on this particular matter but however, for me, as for this marriage, it should be dissolved as soon as possible".
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