The debt of a woman married under the Customary Law Marriage is the responsibility of her husband, a Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana School of Law, Dr Justice Srem-Sai, has said.

He said contrary to the popular perception that Customary Law Marriage did not protect women, it offered better protection to women compared to Ordinance Marriage.

Dr Srem-Sai who was speaking at the maiden Marriage Governance Conference in Accra last Tuesday, explained that while it was mandatory for men to provide maintenance and accommodation to their wives under Customary Law Marriage, it was not mandatory under Ordinance Marriage.

Even in instances when the man passed, his family, he said, was responsible for the upkeep of the woman.

He said the English Law or Common law which Ordinance Marriages depended on, did not give wives such privileges.

“Now, one of the incidents of marriage under customary law is that the husband is responsible to provide maintenance and accommodation for the wife, and after his death that responsibility devolves upon his family.

Consequently, the head of the family is bound to provide maintenance for the widow of a deceased member of the family during the period of the funeral.” he said , making reference to the Ollennu, Yaotey v Quaye (1961) case.

Dr Srem-Sai who is also a legal counsel at  Praetorium Solicitors, said currently,  the Customary Law marriages for  Akans, Ewes and other ethnic groups offered better protection to women than Ordinance marriage.

He advised against referring to customary marriage as “engagement” as it was a  legally accepted form of marriage.

Registering Customary and Islamic Marriages

In a discussion, panellists highlighted the challenges involved in registering Customary and Islamic Marriages.

The Assistant Director of Local Government Services at the Ga West Municipal Assembly, Mr Francis Akanni , noted that while customary marriage followed traditional practices, it was important to register the marriage at the appropriate authority.

Asked how many customary marriages a man could register, he answered that it depended on the man’s ability to cater for the wives and dependants.

The Imam at the Dara Salaam Mosque, Imam Sa-id Mukhtar, said there had to be a correction in the Mohammedan marriage Under the Marriage Act.

He said Muslims did not identify as “Mohemmedans” neither did they follow “Mohammedan law’’ hence the current provision where they were required to register Islamic marriages under Mohammedan law was inappropriate.

He said in Islam, there was nothing like “priests”, rather sheikhs and Imams and asked for an amendment  to reflect the practices and beliefs of the people.

Marriage Governance

Other panellists and speakers highlighted issues related to marriage registration, divorce, publication of Banns, role of marriage counsellors in divorce suits and licensing of churches and pastors for marriage.

Organised by MarryRight Ghana Ltd in partnership with the Attorney-General’s Department, and the Registrar General’s Department, the conference brought together stakeholders and experts to foster a deeper understanding and promotion of best practices in marriage governance.

A private legal practitioner and law lecturer, Dr Justice Srem-Sai is advocating for the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry to investigate allegations that the Attorney-General, Godfred Yeboah Dame asked an accused person in the ongoing ambulance procurement trial to incriminate the Minority Leader.

Richard Jakpa, the third accused in the trial, said that the Attorney-General previously approached him to help build a case against the Minority Leader and former Deputy Finance Minister, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson.

Under cross examination by counsel for the Minority Leader, Jakpa was cautioned by the trial judge, Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe to be direct in his responses and avoid wasting the time of the court.

In response to the judge’s caution, Attorney-General Yeboah Dame accused Jakpa of defending the Minority Leader.

This accusation prompted Mr Jakpa to retort that the Attorney-General seemed aggrieved because he had previously failed to get him [Jakpa] to help the state build a case against Dr Ato Forson.

“The A-G has on several occasions engaged me at odd hours to help him make a case against A1 and I have evidence for that.. If he pushes me, I will open the Pandora’s box. I don’t understand why the A-G will accuse me of defending A1 when I’m here to defend myself,” Mr Jakpa said in court.

According to Dr Srem-Sai, given the weighty nature of the allegation and how it affects the country’s criminal justice system, a special probe is required to bring a closure to the controversy.

Speaking on JoyNews’ The Probe on May 26, he said “When strange things happen in a country and they have never happened before, what we often do is to set up a commission of inquiry.

“So if you look at all the commissions of inquiry from May 9 disaster, it is when things like this happen which have never happened before and we want an honest and open conversations about them.

“And we want a permanent solution to some of these things, we set up a Commission of Inquiry to have an open conversation,” he said.

Also, lawyer and host of Newsfile on JoyNews, Samson Lardy Anyenini, agrees with Dr Srem-Sai’s view.

According to him, the allegations must attract the attention of the relevant state institutions.

“He may be frustrated but to say the things he says, and considering the consequences of the things he says, I will think that they are serious enough, warranting the attention of the right institution for what has to be done,” he added.

• Read also: This is scandalous; Attorney-General must resign – Ansah Asare

But, Spokesperson for the Attorney-General’s Department, Isaac Wilberforce Mensah, stated that during the time the meeting took place, Mr Jakpa was without counsel. For this reason, the Attorney-General met him and a Supreme Court judge at the pre-negotiation stage.

“At the material time that these meeting took place, Mr Jakpa was not represented by counsel.

“If you look at Act 10 (79), an Attorney-General can do these plea negotiations either with the accused person or his counsel. Now this particular accuse person in the course of this trial has changed lawyers about four times,” he added.

Also, a former Director of the Ghana School of Law and private legal practitioner, Ansah Asare, has called for the resignation of the Attorney-General, Godfred Yeboah Dame.

According to the law lecturer, Mr Dame is experienced and well aware of the law; therefore, meeting with an accused person to enter into a plea bargain in the manner that it has been reported raises questions.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Midday News, he explained that the Attorney-General is a lawyer for the state; therefore, it is not right for the plaintiff to meet the accused behind closed doors as he did.

“My candid opinion is that the learned Attorney General knows or is deemed to know the law. Apart from the judges, I think the other person we can say the law rest in his bosom, is the Attorney-General.

“The Attorney-General ought to know where, how and when he has to meet accused persons and in the residence of a sitting justice of the Supreme Court, this is scandalous and the Attorney-General must resign or the president must fire him,” he said.

Meanwhile, both the A-G and the accused have threatened to release further evidence to fortify their cases. Other lawyers have also called on the relevant state institutions to investigate the matter since it has serious implications for justice delivery in the country.