The Deputy Attorney General, Alfred Tuah-Yeboah, has disclosed that his office is currently probing the validity of Nungua Gborbu Wulomo’s marriage ceremony to teenager Naa Yoomo Ayemuede.
This comes after the minor was released to her parents on Thursday, April 18, following a two-week period in the custody of the Department of Social Welfare under the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection.
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In a press briefing, Mr Tuah-Yeboah indicated that the probe’s outcome would be disclosed to the public.
“Our officers are reviewing the docket to ascertain various issues. One, whether what took place was actually marriage or not. We have not come to any conclusion on that issue yet.
“So the officers in the ministry are reviewing the docket, and if we come to any conclusion on that issue, it will be made known to the public.”
The 63-year-old Gborbu Wulomo, Nuumo Borketey Laweh Tsuru XXXIII, faced backlash after a video surfaced online showing him and a young girl called Naa Yoomo Ayemuede engaging in a ceremony that looked like a traditional marriage.
The alleged marriage occurred on Saturday, March 30, 2024, in Nungua, drawing widespread attention and criticism from all angles.
However, Gborbu Wulomo explained that the ceremony does not mandate the girl to perform marital responsibilities like sex, as a section of the public was claiming until she was 18 years old.
The GaDangme Council, in a statement dated Monday, April 1, 2024, signed by its President, Ayikoi Otoo, also revealed that they had engaged with Gborbu Wulomo and his elders to address the controversial issue.
“It is important to clarify that the traditional ruler has stated that the relationship with the underage girl is a betrothal and not a marriage. This distinction to us has altered the legal implications”.
“We are inclined to side with the Gborbu Wulomo since the original reportage made the point that another ceremony awaited the girl to purify and prepare her for procreation”.
The Council also stressed that while marriage might involve an underage individual, it does not sanction the initiation of a sexual relationship with such a child.