Payment of dowry not an abomination

Kumasi, Oct 27, GNA - A business executive has made it clear that performance of customary rites in respect of marriages does not undermine the beliefs of any religion.

Mr Opoku-Agyemang Prempeh, Managing Director of Lakayana Company, a Civil Engineering Firm, who made the statement said payment of dowries and performance of customary rites only goes to strengthen marriages, irrespective of the form it takes, and does not undermine any religion as being perceived in certain circles. Mr. Prempeh was speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Kumasi on Thursday, on the uniqueness and value of traditional marriages.

He advised pastors to begin to encourage couples to opt for customary marriages rather than weddings in view of the simple nature of such traditional marriages.

Mr Prempeh said apart from being less costly, marriages that have not got the traditional blessings of families of the couples, and for which the customary rites have not been performed, cannot be recognized. He attributed the rampant breakdown in families and waywardness of children to the tendency of most families to borrow monies to engage in wedding ceremonies, "only for the couple to find it difficult mobilising monies to repay the debt."

Mr Prempeh also advised parents to take keen interest in guiding their children when it comes to selecting either husbands or wives. He said such guidance should take the form of counselling and not the imposition of the parent's choices on their children.