A controversy has emerged following the marriage of a 63-year-old influential priest to a 12-year-old girl in Ghana through a traditional ceremony. According to BBC reports, Nuumo Borketey Laweh Tsuru XXXIII, a spiritual leader residing in the Nungua region of the capital, Accra, married the unidentified child in a grand ceremony held on Saturday. Mr. Tsuru, known as a “Gborbu Wulomo” or traditional high priest, holds significant spiritual authority within the Nungua indigenous community.
Significantly, the event occurred despite the legal minimum marriage age in Ghana being 18 years old.
Photographs from the wedding celebration, attended by numerous community members, depict the young girl clad in a modest white gown and a coordinating headpiece. Throughout the ceremony, women conversing in the local Ga language purportedly instructed the girl to dress alluringly for her husband. According to BBC, they were also overheard advising her to ready herself for marital responsibilities and to utilize the perfumes they presented her with to enhance her allure to her husband.
The images sparked public outrage among many Ghanaians, who highlighted the illegality of the practice. Critics have further urged authorities to annul the marriage and launch an investigation into the conduct of the priest.
Despite facing criticism, numerous community leaders have come forward to support the marriage, asserting that outsiders fail to comprehend their customs and traditions. Nii Bortey Kofi Frankwa II, a prominent local community leader, stated on Sunday that the girl’s position as the priest’s wife is “purely tradition and custom”.
He elaborated that the girl began the necessary rituals to assume the role of the priest’s wife at the age of six, yet this procedure did not impede her education. According to some accounts, the girl is anticipated to undergo a subsequent customary ceremony to equip her for marital duties, including childbirth.
Nonetheless, law enforcement has identified and located the girl, who is now under their protection, along with her mother. The Ghanaian government has not issued a response to the contentious marriage as of now.
As per Girls Not Brides, a respected global NGO, a notable proportion of girls in Ghana enter into marriage before reaching adulthood.