Francis-Xavier Sosu, the Member of Parliament for Madina, has condemned the recent marriage of Gborbu Wulomo of Nungua, Nuumo Borketey Laweh Tsuru XXXIII, to a 13-year-old girl.
The traditional ceremony, which occurred on March 30, 2024, has incited public outrage in Ghana. There are calls for the arrest of the 63-year-old Gborbu Wulomo, who maintains that the girl will not be required to perform marital duties until she reaches 18.
A livid Francis-Xavier Sosu, a Human Rights Lawyer argued that it’s inappropriate for the girl to be married off before she reaches the legal age of marriage.
He stated that it is ‘inconsequential’ whether the marriage is in accordance with the customs of the Nungua people.
In an interview on Face to Face on Citi TV, the MP criticized the conflict between Ghana’s traditions, religion, and law, which allows traditional leaders to violate the law.
Mr Sosu urged traditional leaders to be aware of the practices that are prohibited by Ghanaian law.
“I was alarmed and extremely outraged when I heard this news over the weekend. I said this is not happening, it’s not going to happen, it was wrong, something needed to be done about it. It was quite refreshing to read from the police that the mother and the child were in their custody.
“And that they were a bit ok. Absolutely inconsequential whether she’s a royal or not. Or whether she accepted to marry this man or not. There’s a policy reason for that, you don’t want to endorse or positively encourage any conduct that suggests that any other person out there could have things to do with children with respect to any form of arrangements.
“That is where there’s a real conflict between our own traditions, religion and sometimes what the law says. It’s not all things that we do traditionally that are legal, not all things you may do religiously that may be legal.
“Traditional leaders would have to watch those spaces very clearly. At what point do we have an intersection between the rituals, culture, tradition and our religion or the law. Once you can decipher these very well, I’m sure you will be fine,” he told host Umaru Sanda Amadu.
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