The age argument in Ghana for legal consideration for consent must be reconsidered. In future longitudinal research, I will interrogate what went into the decision for the choice of different ages as enshrined in our laws instead of synchronising them. In writing this piece of article, I am conscious of the general readership and therefore will not bother you with legal technicalities that many do in discussing such topics.
In this article, I will enumerate on the socio-cultural, economic, educational and political undertones of four age concepts namely; sexual age, marital age, voting age and contractual age as practiced in Ghana.
- Sexual Age
Under the laws of Ghana, age sixteen (16) is the sexual age. It is the legal age permissible for consensual sexual engagement. This means that every normal person of the male and female gender can legally consent to sexual encounters at age sixteen (16). Such sexual encounter under the laws of Ghana is only permissible between the opposite genders.
Be that as it may, there are several conditions under which persons are perceived not to be in the position to legally consent to sexual encounters. These include:
- Imbecile – this is a person considered as one not of sound mind and therefore a consent is nullified by the mental condition. Such a claim must be backed by a medical report by a medical expert that declares a person’s state of mind as imbecile.
- Intoxication – an intoxicated person cannot consent to sexual engagement and therefore consent is nullified by the mental condition. It must be noted that at age sixteen (16) it is illegal to drink any of the alcoholic beverages. It will be interesting to know how an under eighteen (18) years old drank who involved in sexual encounter will be heard in the court. I am inclined to reason that both parties engaged in the sexual encounter will be punished.
Interestingly, as legitimate as it is for the normal sixteen (16) years old to engage in sexual engagements, it is not possible to marry at that age when the female is impregnated. If they are desirous of marrying, they will have to wait till they attain the marital age of eighteen (18).
As legally permissible as it is for a normal sixteen (16) year old to engage in sex, what the law did not provide is the acceptable age beyond sixteen (16) years old that a partner can be involved with. So for example, should a fifty (50) year old woman be sexually involved with a sixteen (16) year old male and vice versa? Though legally permissible, how well does it reflect socio-culturally, economically, educationally and politically?
In Rwanda like Ghana, a sixteen (16) year old can engage in sex but not permissible to marry. The notion is that engaging in sex is not the same as the responsibilities of bearing children and having a responsible family. This argument has been challenged by those who think they are financially capable to get domestic support for their sixteen (16) year old partners.
They reasoned that if it is possible to engage in legitimate sex at age sixteen (16), it should be equally possible to marry at same age. The assumption that they cannot take care of a family is not a universal truth.
Educationally, Ghana has shifted its Compulsory Free Basic Education to the Senior High School (SHS) level with the introduction of the Free SHS. This means that age sixteen (16) is still within the Compulsory Basic Education bracket. If Ghana is determined to make gains from its huge basic education investment, will it not be right to move the consent sexual age from sixteen (16) to eighteen (18) years old?
Also there is the need to legislate the age determinants of acceptable age brackets that can engage in sex with sixteen (16) year olds. This will restrain adults from preying on youngers under the pretence of the acceptable sexual age of sixteen (16).
- Marital Age
Eighteen (18) years old is the minimum age the individual is considered matured to marry and also the minimum age for universal adult suffrage. This part of the article will dwell on the marriage part. What went into the agreement for the acceptance of age eighteen (18) as the marital age will be explored in a future research. It is not enough to allow people to marry at age eighteen (18) without considering the analyses of factors that can wither down the essence of marriage by challenging the socio-cultural, economic and educational purposes required for the development of society.
The different types of marriage can pose a challenge for a younger that is not well adjusted for the complexities involved. Types of marriages include:
- Civil Marriage – also known as the Christian marriage was given to us by the English Common law system where one man is expected to marry one woman to the exclusion of all others in the English case of Hyde v. Hyde. It also follows the biblical New Testament teaching of marriage. This type of marriage is recognised by the Ghanaian Marriage Ordinance. This type of marriage gives relative certainty to the couple with greater levels of protection in the demise of one party.
- Mohammedan Marriage – this is the Islamic type of marriage which permits the man to marry four (4) women. This kind of marriage can be stressful to an eighteen (18) year old who is not fully initiated into the practice. I believe those involved are fully aware of its dictates and fully embrace it.
- Traditional Marriage – this type of marriage is usually referred to as a polygamous marriage which permits the man to marry as many women as possible. The challenge for a young lady of eighteen (18) years old in such a marriage could cause stress to her if she is not well adjusted and intended for it.
Some have argued that eighteen (18) years old are too young to be married and that it puts stress on the woman which in turn impedes their full development in life if they do not get the full support required to make the marriage flourish.
The most victims of bad marriages are women who usually marry at early ages, sometimes abandoning their life pursuant to yield to marriage while their age colleague male pursue professional life and/or engage in labour in search of money. The institution of marriage must be purposive to protect younger women.
For a country that is desirous of development must seek to protect its women from the unfortunate and deceiving men who only bedevil them with unintended promises of lasting marriage only to abandon them soon after and not take care of the children. Such legislation must seek financial support from the sources of income of runaway men.
As indicated in the sexual age, educationally, Ghana has shifted its Compulsory Free Basic Education to the Senior High School (SHS) level with the introduction of the Free SHS. This means that some at age eighteen (18) are still within the Compulsory Basic Education bracket. If Ghana is determined to make gains from its huge basic education investment, will it not be right to move the marital age to beyond eighteen (18) years old?
The post Education and Management with Nii Armah Addy : Age construct in our legal reasoning (1) appeared first on The Business & Financial Times.
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