Member of Parliament for the Madina Constituency and Human rights lawyer, Francis Xavier Sosu stated that there are laws governing the extent to which customary practices can be carried out.
He stated that every person has the right to practise their culture, tradition and beliefs, however these rights are subject to the requirements of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.
“Any culture or any cultural practice, belief or manifestation that violates the constitution or any written law must be said to have any application in our jurisdiction. In the 1992 Constitution, what Article 26 states is that every person is entitled to enjoy, practice, profess, maintain, and promote any culture, language, tradition, or religion, subject to the provisions of this constitution. So, your culture, your tradition, your beliefs, you have the right to enjoy them, but those beliefs, traditions, and practices are subject to the provisions of this constitution.” Francis Sosu stated on TV3’s Ghana Tonight on April 1.
He also added that it is about establishing a balance between safeguarding the welfare of every individual and maintaining cultural variety.
“In Article 26 (2) of the same constitution, it says that all customary practices which dehumanize or are injurious to the physical and mental well-being of a person are prohibited. A child who is 12 years under our laws does not even have the capacity to consent to be in marriage relationship. She has no capacity to contract or be contracted in any marriage and marriage by law is a union between two consenting adults and not an adult and a minor for that matter and so all those trying to provide any form of justification for this have no justification whatsoever. There is no justification for that act at all.” he emphasized.
He made it clear that the constitution forbids any customary practice that devalues people.
“The provisions on the rights of children as it’s contained in Article 28 of the 1992 Constitution and remember that these provisions are consistent with the international standard, international provisions, or international laws that Ghana is a signatory to, particularly convention on the right of a child and this article provides that parliament shall enact such laws as are necessary to ensure that; a. every child has a right to the same measure of special care assistance and maintenance as is necessary for its development from its natural parents except where those parents have effectively surrendered their rights and responsibilities in respect of the child in accordance with law.
So, this child, if she has parents, is supposed to be with her parents and have special care and protection from these parents. It also provides that young persons receive special protection against exposure to physical and moral hazards. So there is a duty on the republic not to subject children to physical and moral hazards,” he stated.
By Jazmin Asumadu