Cultural practices that undermine children’s rights, exploit them should not be tolerated – CRI

Child Rights International, a children’s advocacy group, says its interest in the alleged marriage of a 16-year-old girl to Gborbu Wulomor, the 63-year-old traditional priest, is to seek justice and protection for the minor.

The group faced criticism for allegedly undermining a priest, but their primary goal was to ensure a thorough investigation into the matter.

According to the Executive Director of CRI, Bright Appiah, the laws of Ghana are against early or child marriages, and so "when you violate that, you are punished for it.”

He explained that the laws are also there to protect the abuse of fundamental rights of people, especially children and that they must be respected even in the traditional context.

"People at a point felt others were undermining the culture of the Nungua people, but in all our discussions, we’ve never made mention of what their tradition is because I have no idea of their tradition for me even to talk about it. If I had an understanding, I would appreciate it better. I did not place emphasis on the cultural practices that they do, but once it involves a child and the child is below the age of 18 years, we would have an interest.”

He argued that Ghana is a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and so we have imposed a responsibility on ourselves to protect children, and when there are cultural practices that endanger the life of a child, they should be prohibited.

Speaking in an interview with Dr. Ren on Rainbow Radio 92.4FM UK, he said "These provisions were infused into our Child Rights laws; we are not banning culture totally, but the law maintains that any cultural practices that violate the rights of the child, exploit them, or endanger them should be prohibited."

Mr. Appiah argued that tradition and law should not be separated, as both systems acknowledge people’s existence.

He emphasized that any cultural practices that undermine children’s rights, exploit them, and deprive them of education and protection should not be tolerated.