HIGH BRIDE PRICE AND CHILDCARE
-Concerned Krobo mother disturbed
Despite other people reconsidering bride price to lessen the marriage-threatening financial burden on the would-be husband, the picture remains the same among the Krobos in the Eastern Region of Ghana.
If, per the financial demands, the man and the woman, unfortunately, give birth out of wedlock, the man is allowed to be irresponsible as the woman's family impresses on her to take all the responsibilities in the child's upkeep till adulthood.
And in a situation where the man would want to have the woman and the child to stay with, he is allowed by her family to offer a sheep and take her and the child away.
The upholders of this tradition thought it would deter women to stay chaste till they are married but the opposite is the case, impoverishing the physical, psychological, emotional, social, educational and other aspects of the innocent child, triggered by teenage pregnancies.
But a proud Krobo mother and civic educator, Janet Mamle Wahiermeh, while discouraging premarital childbirth among the young women, is strongly advocating the reconsideration of the outrageous pride prices demanded from young would-be husbands so as to encourage more responsible parenting in the interests of the child, the family and the society.
Madam Janet stressed that she has approached some opinion leaders on the Kroboland on the issue but though some queen mothers and their male counterparts see the need for reforms, there is no glimmer of hope.
She is, therefore, calling on all concerned Krobos and others to join the advocacy since the practice is prevalent in one form or the other in other parts of the country and outside.
"Let us modernise the tradition because it is rather the good tradition that should go on, "
Madam Janet told editor Osei Kuffour in an exclusive interview.
And added that not even your Christian status can make it easy for you as far as the deeply rooted tradition is concerned.
When asked about the "dipo"(puberty rites) and its pros and cons in contemporary Ghana, she said it is another big subject for another discussion.
✍🏽: Osei Kuffour
Fb: Osei Kuffour OK
E: editorok5@gmail
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