Story: George Ernest Asare, Kumasi
While most of the youth in the Kumasi metropolis and its environs are responding to their hearts’ desires by tying the knot with their female partners whom they want to spend the rest of their lives with, many more are heading for the courts to break their relationships with their life partners for reasons difficult to comprehend.
Records from the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly’s Marriage and Divorce Department have revealed that between January and March, this year alone, 309 customary marriages were contracted, and as many as 631 cases of dissolution of customary marriages from the courts were also recorded in Kumasi.
In 2007, 266 customary marriage dissolution cases were declared at the KMA, while the divorce cases stood at 130.
The records from the Marriage and Divorce Department of the KMA further indicated that between 2000 and 2007, only 92 customary marriage dissolution cases were registered at the KMA, while as many as 9,111 marriages were also registered.
The KMA registered 18,439 marriages under the ordinance between 2000 and 2007 but could not provide up-to-date records of divorce cases under marriage by ordinance.
This was because such cases always took place in either the Circuits Court or High Courts.
Reacting to the increased divorce cases pending at the KMA and other courts that had been already annulled, the Metropolitan Solicitor, Mr Anthony Osei Poku, told the Daily Graphic that immaturity on the part of the partners was the contributory factor to the numerous divorce cases in recent times.
Explaining, he said some of the partners, especially some members of the Pentecostal Churches, contracted their marriages without studying their partners adequately to appreciate their values and shortcomings.
He said in such cases, any little conflict between the partners created extensive tension, making it impossible for them to come together again.
Comparing them to members of the Orthodox churches, Mr Osei Poku said before they contracted their marriages, those from the Orthodox churches took time to study their partners and also sought extensive marriage counselling from experienced counsellors, so before they came together, they appreciated what “for better and worse” stood for, so they easily patched up whenever there was any conflict.
He also attributed the upsurge in divorce cases in the metropolis to the fact that in some of the Pentecostal Churches, “ it is the elders who become matchmakers by enticing some of the partners to contract marriages, instead of allowing them to seek their own lovers.
“In such cases, the marriages do not last, because any little problem brings separation leading to divorce”.
He said in most cases, the need to adjust to each other’s attitude was another issue that brought partners on a collision course, leading to divorce.
He explained that adjusting to each other’s attitude was very important because each person was brought up in a different environment and family background, and it was only through proper counselling that partners would appreciate the fact that as humans, “we are fallible and can easily offend one another, but coming together to address the problem as husband and wife is key to the success of every marriage”.
Mr Osei Poku also said infertility was the major cause of separation and the increasing rate of divorce cases among the youth.
He pointed out that in most cases, pressure was brought to bear on the partners “if they are not able to give birth after a few years of marriage, and when that happens, one of the partners sometimes indulges in extra-marital sex, leading to divorce when their partners find out”.
He said in-laws who live with their children in their matrimonial homes are also causes of the numerous divorce cases in the metropolis. Such in-laws, he explained, interfere in almost all issues affecting the couples, creating much tension at home, leading to divorce.
He also mentioned the financial insecurity of couples as another cause of divorce, but said, in all cases, “ divorce should be the last resort because it is a lifetime contract between couples.
“Marriages should only break down beyond reconciliation but some couples find flimsy excuses to seek divorce, which should not be encouraged,” he added.
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