Stone adulterous women to death - Ghana MP suggests

A Ghanaian Member of Parliament (MP) has proffered hanging or stoning to death as the best punishment for women who engage in adulterous acts.

"Day in day out in Afghanistan, if you go behind you husband they hang you. So if they add that we will get very genuine women in families"

The MP for Daboya/Makarigu in the Northern region, Nelson Abudu Baani proposed this form of punishment while contributing to a debate on a bill on Interstate Succession.

The bill has reached its second stage of consideration after it was first introduced in 2009. The committee which is working on the bill, the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee has explained that it has spent over two years on the bill because it touches on very sensitive issues of inheritance in Ghana.

The bill will replace the Intestate Succession Act, 1985 (PNDC Law 111) when passed. Under the PNDC Law 111, the distribution of the estate of a man who died without a will is determined by the customary law of inheritance of the area from which he hailed, or the type of marriage under which the decease married. As a result, a greater chunk of the estate of the deceased was inherited by his customary successor or successors on behalf of the extended family, thereby cheating the female spouse and children of the deceased.

The current bill wants to rectify the situation by giving more rights to such women to the property of their deceased husbands.

The MP is however unhappy with the current state of the bill.

He further stated that the level of confusion the bill in its current form would create in areas in Northern Ghana including his constituency was his reason for suggesting the introduction of the clause to deter wives from cheating.

He said the current state of the bill does not favour men.

" I want members at this time to reject it. This thing will bring alot of controversy in my area. Some of these women are 'alomo jarta' in thier houses so if a woman that I am married to brings me a bastard what is the [punishiment] for those type of women. Unless punishment for women who are not faithful is added, we should not adpot it"

Listen to the MP justify his claim on the floor of the house

Nelson Abudu Baani therefore called for the suspension of the bill for broader consultation before the house tries its passage.

Majority Chief Whip, Alhaji Muntaka Mubarak also expressed the view that the promulgation of the Bill will encourage cohabitation which adverse effect will be the creation of more problems for families.

  Story by Ghana|Myjoyonline|Edwin Appiah|[email protected]