The Attorney General and the Ministry of Justice have requested the opening of an investigation into a child marriage on the outskirts of the capital Accra. An alleged union, widely documented since this weekend by the local press and social networks, between a traditional priest of the Ga community, aged 63, and a 12-year-old girl. Faced with the growing controversy, the priest’s entourage defends itself from any mistreatment, which does not at all convince the Ghanaian organizations responsible for defending children’s rights.
2 mins
With our correspondent in Accra, Victor Cariou
Whether it’s traders, passers-by, in the market aisles of the town of Nungua, everyone says they know nothing, or don’t want to express themselves on the subject. However, it is here, this Saturday, that the marriage of a 12-year-old child to a 63-year-old priest from the Ga community would have taken place. An illegal union under the Ghanaian Constitution.
Faced with the unanimous condemnations of civil society, responses from local traditional dignitaries: no sexual relations will take place before the child reaches the age of majority, the union being purely spiritual. “ Gborbu, our priest, united with the lady by divine intervention. It is therefore a matter which concerns deities, and not Gborbu as a person. »
A purely customary argument, without any form of guarantee for the safety of the child, left alone in the face of multiple risks: this is what Emmanuel Oppong thinks. The vice-president of the Pediatric Society of Ghana insists: this marriage marks a serious step backwards for the country. “ This gave us a very uncomfortable reminder that our strategic plan in place in Ghana to eradicate child marriage faces multiple obstacles. Especially since this wedding took place at the gates of the capital of our country. »
The 12-year-old girl was placed under police protection, pending the results of an investigation carried out by the authorities. In Ghana, according to UNICEF, one in five women was married before reaching the age of majority.