The episode of child marriage in Ghana

Early this month I saw a lot of effort made by some women groups to fighting child marriage in the country. It is indeed a worrying issue which has recently gained notoriety in Ghana. This canker is growing at a spate that is indescribable. It is in the light of this that I decided to direct my sharp pen at it to unearth some of the causes and suggested solutions.

Child marriage is very prevalent in the country especially in the three Northern regions of Ghana. Girls are the most vulnerable in this case. It has seriously eroded female education in the country especially the three Northern regions.

No wonder the numerical strength of females in the senior high and tertiary institutions kept deteriorating. This, I can say, accounted for the less females representation in Ghana's parliament as well as other offices. I therefore want to say that the fight for gender equality cannot be fully realized if some of these barbaric acts are not holistically dealt with.

One may ask why I kept emphasizing on the three Northern regions. It is so because they are the regions that are highly hit by this seemingly insurmountable problem. These regions are bedeviled with myriad of challenges ranging from poverty, high illiteracy rate, inadequate opportunities, etc that easily push our girls in to marrying early.

Child marriage is rapidly gaining notoriety under the umbrella of P-cube (P3). That is poor parenting, poverty and peer pressure. There are other causes but these are the basic causes.

Of course, these are very fundamental causes that we are all conversant with. And if indeed we are conversant with these things, what makes it difficult for us to undo child marriage in our society? Or is it also part of our culture? And if yes, then that is one of the bad cultural practices that need to be discarded.

Let me now quickly take you down the lane how the 3Ps lead to this uncultured act.

First and foremost, poor parenting as a major contributory factor, is a situation where parents assume the posture of irresponsibility. That is they fail to provide the basic and fundamental needs of their children. In the pursuit of these fundamental needs, some of these children end up being pregnant. Be remembered that am not talking about teenage pregnancy but rather child marriage.

Now, after becoming pregnant, these very irresponsible parents shamelessly dash out these pregnant girls to the men who are responsible for their pregnancy without any recourse to the men's character, credibility and responsibility. It will interest my readers to note that these irresponsible parents who cannot afford their children a soap, dress, food, etc rather have more than enough money to buy a local drink called 'akpeteshi', others call it kill me quick because of its alcoholic content.

Furthermore, ladies and gentlemen, the Second P which is the notorious poverty, is sky rocketing in the country especially in the three Northern regions. In all sincerity and Godly speaking, poverty is eating up deep into the lives of people despite their effort to liberate themselves from it. In fact, there are people who are struggling to get a day square meal. I am sometimes tempted to think that their generation has been cursed by their predecessors.

I guess I have carried home my points well for you to see the picture am creating? If you have ever come into contact with such people, you will attest to the fact that I am not far from being right that they have been cursed. So such parents think that the only way they can break themselves loose from poverty is to forcibly give out their children in marriage. It will interest you to know that some of such parents beat and chase their children to go out and look for money. Others give them out to guys they think are capable of caring for them.

In fact, most parents at this state seems to be commonsensically deficient. If not so, how can a right thinking person ask their children at that tender age to go and fend for themselves and their parents? I believe you now understand why child marriage is becoming increasingly prevalent in the three Northern regions?

Also, the third P, peer pressure generally contribute in no small way to child marriage. This happens as children imitate their colleagues as they influence one another. This happen across the length and breadth of this country.

Last but not least, single parenthood is one of the causes which I cannot conclude without mentioning. This is very rampant in the country. We have a lot of single mothers and fathers. Some of them are caused by death while others divorce. This makes it extremely difficult for most children to get proper care hence end up in marrying at a tender age.

In conclusion, we all have a role to play in dealing with this social canker that is gaining grounds at a very fast spate. Now, how do we as individuals support in the fight against this worrying issue? Firstly, we can do that by supporting the needy children with their basic needs.

Secondly, we can educate and advise one another regarding to our responsibility as parents. This will also help minimize divorce.

Thirdly, teachers should spend most of their time counseling and sharing real life experiences and situations with students to let them know that they are not the only people to have found themselves in those conditions.

Fourthly, NGOs and other benevolent people should channel their magnanimity to fight against child marriage. Let us collectively and in unison champion the fight against this ugly social act.