The Girls Not Brides (GNB) Ghana Partnership, a coalition for ending child marriage and all forms of violence against girls, has called for the arrest of Numo Borketey Laweh Tsuru XXXIII, Gborbu Wulomo of Nungua for his marriage to a 12-year-old girl.
The Girl, whose husband is this 63-year-old traditional religious leader would serve as his spiritual wife. 
It said child marriage had been a violation of human rights that robbed young girls of their childhood, potentials, and prospects, with Ghana having over two million child brides, representing 19 per cent of all young women married before their 18th birthday; an affront to achieving equality indicators under the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
Hajia Fati Seidu Tambro, the GNB Ghana Partnership National Chairperson, in a statement copied to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Takoradi, said it found the tradition as a breach of the fundamental human rights of the girl child.
The statement said Ghana had pledged its commitment to protect its citizens especially vulnerable groups including women and girls, through the ratification of various international conventions and protocols that safeguard them from violence.
“Article (4) of the UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against women (DEVAW) (1993) states that, no State should invoke any custom, tradition or religious consideration in the perpetration of violence against women.”
Hajia Tambro said Ghana had domesticated these international laws and prohibited all customary practices that dehumanised or were injurious to the physical and mental wellbeing of persons in Article 26(2) of the 1992 Constitution.
The statement said, “Although the people of Nungua are conforming to their tradition and custom, it must be practice according to the provision of the Constitution and International conventions of which Ghana is a signatory.”
The GNB Ghana Partnership had therefore appealed to the National House of Chiefs to exercise the powers conferred to them by the laws of the land under Article 49 to 55 of the Chieftaincy Act 2008, to harmonise and modify the customary laws of Ghana to conform to the principles of human rights and gender equality.
The statement also urged the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection as well as other relevant stakeholders to act accordingly, to save the 12-year-old child from such customary laws which worked against the wellbeing of women and girls in society.
GNA
JP/CAA/LAA
03 April 2024
