Francis-Xavier Sosu, Member of Parliament for Madina, has petitioned the Ghana Police Service’s Criminal Investigations Department (CID) to arrest, investigate, and prosecute Nuumo Borketey Laweh XXXIII, the 63-year-old Gborbu Wulomo Gborbu Wulomo, for marrying Naa Kromo, a 12-year-old girl.
According to Madina’s legislator petition to the Director General of the Criminal Investigation Department on Tuesday, April 2, 2024, the action violates both local and international laws on child care and protection.
“It is in the light of the foregoing that I respectfully crave your indulgence and pray that you exercise your powers of arrest, investigations including potential defilement and prosecution in the defence and protection of this innocent child,” Lawyer Sosu stated.
He reiterated that, per the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) law and the 1992 Constitution, the marriage ceremony is illegal and void, a child under 18 cannot enter marriage.
“ARTICLE 16 OF THE CONVENTION ON THE ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN (CEDAW) states that women should have the same right as men to “freely choose a spouse and to enter into marriage only with their free and full consent”, and that the “betrothal and marriage of a child shall have no legal effect and all necessary action, including legislation, shall be taken to specify a minimum age for marriage”, Lawyer Sosu added.
