Registration Of Minors Dangerous Than Child Marriages

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Ghana has been noted for fighting strongly against child marriage. Both the 1992 Constitution and the Children’s Act, 560 set age for marriage and therefore it is an act of criminality to engage any child in marriage. Many agencies in this country have demonstrated their willingness to end this canker. The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection in its commitment to fight against Child Marriages instituted a unit, An Ending Child Marriage Unit in 2014. Also, the Ministry is working with UNICEF to develop a three-year national strategic framework to end child marriage.

One will appreciate the need to wrestle against child marriages when its negative impacts on the girl-child are brought to light. Child marriage denies the girl-child of many privileges to be enjoyed as a child in this country. it affects the girl-child development in all areas; educationally, morally, physically and psychologically.

Reports have established that majority of children married to adults developed health complications of which some result in death due to sexual abuse. Again, it has been reported that girls engaged in marriages had been severely abused, maltreated and treated as animals or properties instead of humans. In fact, in an interview, one of these rescued girls from child marriages indicated that her husband fed his pets and farm animals better than he fed her. Indeed, as a country we need to fight together for these potential, wonderful, and lovely future generations against child marriages.

But what if there are practices in this country which justify and fully endorse child marriages? How can we fight child marriages if we start issuing these children with voters’ ID cards? It has been confirmed by the National Secretary of the ruling party as well a Member of Parliament of the opposition party that indeed minors were registered by both parties. What a shame! The voters’ ID card becomes a legal document to justify the age of the holder.

Justifying the age of an individual in this country has become a major challenge and one of the reliable document to prove one’s age is the voters’ ID card. How can we fight child marriages if all the children in the marriages have voters’ ID cards? Are we not encouraging child marriages by registering minors under electoral processes? Are we not shattering the future of these children in marriages as we issue them with voters’ ID cards? Are we not encouraging children with voters’ ID cards to be married legally? Which one is more dangerous, the child marriage or the one that fully justifies it?

Registration of minors put child into potential and harmful ways. It justifies them as adults and therefore they lose privileges, protection and care required by law. The same government and politicians who are fighting hard to be entrusted with the protection of our children are pushing them in harm’s way. Registration of minors is potentially dangerous act that ought to be abolished and treated with strict measures.

It becomes the only way that the hope of a child given in to marriage is shattered forever. It is the number one enemy to justify child marriage and we need to fight it with all our might. Our dear leaders and politicians, for the sake of our future leaders, stop engaging children in electoral frauds and respect their rights as children and treat them with the needed respect and dignity as children.

Jeffery Amo - Asare