Agona Swedru Traditional Council commits towards ending child marriage within its jurisdiction

The Agona Swedru Traditional Council has made an official declaration, committing itself to supporting efforts towards ending child marriage within the Agona Nyakrom area in the Central Region.

They also issued a stern warning to perpetrators of this illegality, which often leads to Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV), teenage pregnancies, and other harmful cultural practices. These practices contribute to increased rates of female school dropouts, health complications, and entrenched poverty among women and young girls.

The Council said it would fight the menace through education, advocacy, legal, and other legitimate means, vowing that their resolution would remain valid until the objectives were achieved.

Okofo Okatakyi Nyarkoh Eku X, the Paramount Chief of the Agona Nyakrom Traditional area, said, “We will ensure that any child who is below 18 years will not go into marriage, and anybody who acts contrary to undermine the resolution of the Council will be in serious trouble.”

He made the declaration at a durbar at his seat in the Agona Nyakrom palace, to crown a two-day workshop organized by the Obaapa Development Foundation, a non-governmental organization focused on women's development, with support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Ghana, which is also the UN’s Sexual and Reproductive Health Agency.

The event was part of national efforts to empower traditional and religious leaders, as well as the public, towards ending child marriages in Ghana.

Okofo Nyarkoh Eku said the Council would not take lightly any parliamentary agreement or attempt to refrain them from conforming to their customary mandate and rights as a traditional council.

The Paramount Chief, alluding to the numerous dangers of child marriage, said they would work urgently in close collaboration with other stakeholders, including heads of schools, families, the police, the Ghana Education Service, and the Ghana Health Service, to mitigate the menace.

He said it was wrong for parents to throw their pregnant girls out of their homes to cohabit with the men responsible for their pregnancies, maintaining that such acts fuel child marriages.

Shortly after the declaration, Madam Halima Saadia Yakubu, the Chief Director of the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, led members of the Council to openly pledge to fight all harmful practices against children, especially girls, and to create a community where every child could reach their full potential.

Dr. Wilfred Ochan, the Resident Representative of UNFPA, commended the Traditional Council for taking the bold decision to fight for the rights of young people.

He said child marriage remains a significant problem in Ghana, indicating that the prevalence of marriage by age 15 has stalled at about five percent over the last 10 years, without any visible improvement.

The workshop had over 40 participants, including chiefs and queen mothers from Swedru and Agona Nyakrom in the Agona West Municipal District of the Central Region, creating a platform for knowledge sharing and education on existing laws and sanctions against perpetrators of these threats against humanity.

Experts during the workshop took the traditional leaders through the effects of early and child marriage, as well as related issues, including SGBV, teenage pregnancy, and numerous health complications.