The local priest Nuumo Borketey Laweh Tsuru XXXIII, who is supposed to be very influential, married a twelve-year-old girl in a ceremony on Saturday. The marriage has met with much criticism in Ghana. This is reported by several media, including the BBC.
After the many reactions, local leaders have stated that people do not understand their customs and traditions.
In Ghana, the age limit for marriage is 18, and the number of child marriages has decreased in recent years.
Nevertheless, there are still over two million child brides in Ghana, according to the UN. According to the organization “Girls Not Brides”, 19 per cent of girls in the country are married before they reach the age of 18, and five per cent marry before the age of 15.
“Cynthia” (11) was sold for NOK 90
Attract your husband
Videos and photos of the weekend’s ceremony, which show several people from the local community attending the illegal wedding, have sent shockwaves through Ghanaians on social media.
During the ceremony, other women are said to have told the girl that she had to dress flirtatiously for her husband, according to the BBC.
They are said to have also advised her to do housework, to perform her “duties as a wife”, and to use perfume to increase her husband’s sexual attraction to her, who is over fifty years older.
CHILD BRIDE: Photos from the ceremony show that several people in the local community have gathered for the event, and that the girl (12) is dressed in a wedding dress. Photo: Screenshot/social media
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Picked out as a six-year-old
Several have called for the authorities to intervene and end the illegal marriage and investigate Tsuru.
Spokespersons from the Nungua indigenous community, to which both the girl and the priest belong, condemn the opposition to the marriage, saying the criticism comes from a place of “ignorance”.
Nii Bortey Kofi Frankwa II, a leader in the local community, said on Sunday that the girl’s role as the priest’s wife is only “tradition and custom”, according to the BBC.
He also stated that the girl has been preparing to become the priest’s wife since she was six years old, but emphasizes that it has not stood in the way of her schooling.
The US has approved thousands of child marriages
Cleansing ceremony
Local media reports that the girl will also undergo a ceremony to “purify her” before entering her new role as the high priest’s wife. The ceremony will also prepare her for her duties as a wife, including childbirth.
Priest Tsuru is a “Gborbu Wulomo”, or traditional high priest of the Nungua indigenous people, in the capital Accra.
Tsuru is among the community’s highest-ranking traditional leaders.
He performs sacrifices on behalf of the local community, invokes the community’s protection, enforces cultural practices, and presides over traditional rituals such as the installation of chiefs.
Ghanaian authorities have yet to comment on the controversial marriage.
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