Chiefs in Zongo communities in the Ashanti Region are unhappy about the surge in marriages involving minor girls.
Reports suggest girls aged between 10 and 16 are constantly being forced into early marriages by their parents.
This was confirmed by the Secretary of the Council of Zongo Chiefs, Alhaji Musah Shuabu Shariff.
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“The community is talking about it and then Zongo leadership is also talking about it. The Zongo leadership has not been left out in this issue,” he said, as quoted by Myjoyonline.
He added: “We are in a country governed by rules and regulations. We have a constitution in the country that enjoins all of us to be law abiding citizens. The constitution says before any child or anyone gets married, she has to be 18-years and above.”
“There is a Cleric here sometime ago that wanted to marry a child that is below 18-years. He quoted so many hadiths, that’s the saying of the prophet so the community also stood up against that. We said we would not agree to that unless the girl reaches 18-years. We insisted and we never allowed the Imam to marry that girl.”
Forcing young female girls to marry is strictly against the Children’s Act, which pegs the minimum marriage age at 18.
The Police recently rescued a JHS 2 pupil who was confined and was being married off to a man in Accra.
The Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service has also rescued three victims of child marriage in Kumasi in the last two months alone.
