Minority Chief Whip, Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka, says he never advocated for children to be allowed to get married at age 16.
This follows some questions he asked during last week’s vetting of Supreme Court justice nominee, Prof. Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu.
The legislator called for broader discussion on the Children’s Act 1998 (Act 560) section 14(2) which puts the age for sexual consent at 16 years and the minimum age for marriage at 18 years.
He said since the country’s culture does not permit premarital sex, the legal age for sexual consent and that of marriage should be put at age 18.
Mubarak Muntaka during last week’s vetting of Supreme Court Justice nominees
However, there were reports that Muntaka was advocating for children to be allowed to marry from age 16.
Responding to this, the Asawase MP said he rather wants the legal age for sexual consent and that of marriage to be synchronized.
“I was saying that why do we want [children] to consent to sex at 16 years but they can only get married at 18. Why don’t we synchronize them to be at one point,” the lawmaker explained in an interview with Accra-based Citi FM.
“If we think that the only time that children can have sex is at 18, why don’t we put everything to 18, because our culture, whether you are a Christian or Muslim all across this country, I don’t see any single culture that allows premarital sex so I wanted her view on that.
“[Premarital sex] doesn’t follow our culture. It is inconsistent with our traditions…In Africa, our culture doesn’t allow premarital sex so why do we have a law that allows premarital sex,” he added.
Source: Pulse Ghana
