Gborbu Wulomo is not married to the 12-year-old girl

The GaDangme Council has released a statement to clarify the viral post on social media that depicts that the 63-year-old Gborbu Wulomo, Nuumo Borketey Laweh XXXIII, got married to a 12-year-old. Ghanaians reacted wildly to the news of the relationship between the two with several people citing the Criminal Offences Act, the Children’s Act and the 1992 Constitutions.

However, the GaDangme Council in a statement signed by its President Nii Ayikoi Otoo, a former Attorney General, has clarified the situation. The statement said the Council like the many Ghanaians who expressed concern at the story ” deprecated and denounced the ceremony christened a Ga Customary Wedding Boi Ekpaa Yoo“. However, it did not express its opinions publicly because it viewed the “phenomenon as a complex issue that requires careful consideration and action”.

According to the Council, its investigations showed that the ceremony was a betrothal, not a wedding. However, the MC at the event “misled everybody present as well as the entire community to believe that what was happening was a traditional wedding”.

The statement added that the Council “has engaged the Gborbu Wulomo himself and some of his elders and 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.

Also, the Council urged the “Gborbu Wulomɔ to address the issue and mitigate the concerns surrounding the betrothal and to ensure that the girl’s well-being and rights are protected and that her best interests such as her education are prioritized throughout the engagement process. She should continue her education until she reaches the legal age of marriage, and even marriage should not disrupt her education if she is still willing to continue.

Read the full statement by the GaDangme Council.