Empowering Partnerships: Collaborative Solutions Towards Effective Marriage Governance | Features

Marriage, as a foundational institution of society, requires robust governance mechanisms to ensure legal integrity and social cohesion.

MarryRight Ghana, in collaboration with the Office of the Attorney General and Ministry of Justice, proposes a stakeholders’ conference on marriage governance in Ghana.

This conference aims to address challenges, foster collaboration, and propose actionable solutions to enhance the legal compliance and integrity of marriages in the country.

Ghana’s legal framework recognizes three main types of marriages: Customary, Mohammedan (Islamic), and Ordinance. Under the Ordinance Marriage one can marry under the Marriage Officer’s Certificate, Registrar’s Certificate and Special License.

The various District, Municipal and Metropolitan Assembly has been empowered by the law to register Customary Law Marriage and Customary Law Divorce. They also register Mohammedan (Islamic) Marriage and Divorce.

They have been recognized in practice to have the power to celebrate Ordinance Marriage under the Registrar’s Certificate. They are also in charge of licensing Marriage Venues in their respective Assembly.

The District Magistrates under the Judiciary has been also been allowed to celebrate Ordinance Marriage as they are deemed to be Marriage Registrars and can celebrate Marriage under the Registrar’s Certificate.

The Licensed Churches and Licensed Priest are also empowered by law to celebrate ordinance marriage under the Marriage Officers Certificate. The Principal Marriage Officer in Accra is the one empowered by law to issue a Special License for the purpose of ordinance Marriage.

MarryRight have recognized several problems with regards to the matters relating to the legal compliance of marriage. It has been revealed that for instance there are about three ministries in charge of the officers involved in Marriage.

For instance the Attorney-General has Oversight responsibility over the RGD Marriage Department, Licensing of Marriage Officers, the Ministry of Interior has oversight of licensing of Mohammedan Priest, Ministry of Local Government has oversight responsibility of MMDAs Licensing of Marriage Venue, celebration of Ordinance Marriage with Judiciary with oversight responsibility over District Magistrates Celebration of Ordinance Marriage.

There are also some secondary providers of services relating to marriage. For instance Commissioner of Oaths and Notary Public plays a critical role in documentation of registration of Customary and Islamic Marriages.

The Judicial Service plays a role in the Attestation of Documents and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs gives Certification for this documentation. The Ghana Publishing plays a role in Gazetting of Marriage Venues, Marriage Officers and Mohammedan Priest.

There has been rising increase in the issuance of fake marriage certificate and divorce. Furthermore, these documents are presented to the various Embassies which cause major embarrassment to the state.
Thus, while laws and regulations exist to govern these marriages, issues such as fake certificates, unauthorized celebrations, and inadequate oversight have emerged, posing significant challenges to the integrity of the institution of marriage and causing embarrassment to the state.

Objectives:

Identify Challenges: Explore the various challenges and gaps in the current marriage governance framework, including issues related to documentation, licensing, oversight, and enforcement.

Promote Collaboration: Facilitate dialogue and collaboration among key stakeholders, including government agencies, religious institutions, legal practitioners, and civil society organizations, to address shared concerns and strengthen partnerships.

Propose Solutions: Generate innovative ideas and practical recommendations to improve the legal compliance, transparency, and accountability of marriage processes, with a focus on preventing fraud, enhancing documentation practices, and improving regulatory oversight.

Enhance Public Awareness: Raise awareness among the general public about the importance of legal compliance in marriage, the consequences of fraudulent practices, and the role of stakeholders in upholding the integrity of the institution.

We aim to bring together stakeholders to discuss critical issues surrounding marriage governance Ghana, and we believe your presence would greatly enhance the event.