Husband responsible for wife’s debt in customary marriage – Law lecturer

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.