Marriage In Ghana - See All The Rites And Requirements

Traditional Marriage in Ghana, the rites and requirements, marriages being a world wide affair in which the Blacks and the Whites embark on interchangeably not minding the distances, languages, and cultural differences provided the love is there.  We want to see how it's practiced in Ghana and what it takes to marry from there, especially if you are a non Ghanaian but is interested in getting a wife from there.

Also we will be taking into considerations the traditional marriage in Ghana and the criteria, to enable us know in details the forms of marriages that are practiced in the country. The major marriage rites practiced in Ghana are:

(1.) Religious Marriage and Civic Registration

(2.) Customary Marriage

(3) Traditional Marriage

Before going into some detailed descriptions of these forms of marriages, we would like to get you acquainted with other necessary facts about Ghana's views of marriage.

The purpose of marriage in Ghana, just like the other parts in the world, is to provide a legitimate avenue for $exual satisfactions and reproductions as well as to support each other wherein lies the needs of  companionship.

Traditional Marriage in Ghana is not just the couple and immediate family relations affairs but a group relations that goes beyond boundaries and includes distant relatives. Marriage rites in Ghana is usually constructed around the customs of the ethnic group in which the couple live.  In essence what we are saying here is that marriage in Ghana is a union between man and a woman which is recognized by both families irrespective of how extensive they are.

Newly traditionally wedded couple in Ghana | Photo credit: MOMENTO images.

Before being recognized as a legal couple, the man and the woman must agree to live together and would have gone through all the recognized procedures for marriage in the society in which they live.

The Prerequisite Before Exchanging Marital Vows In Ghana Are As Follows:

(1.) Members of each families are to be screened for Incurable and contagious diseases, Violent behaviors and Criminal backgrounds, Respectfulness, Employment status, Standard of living and religious background.

Another important thing that is worthy of consideration in Ghana marriage arrangements is that Ghanaian prefer a hard working spouse and they usually shy away from violent individual of any sort.

Religious background and the related issues are to be sorted out before entering into marriage in Ghana because Muslims and Christians do not generally intermarry, and as such, conversions from one religion to another is usually preferred prior to marriage.

Below Are The Marriage Forms That Are Practiced In Ghana:

  Religious marriage in Ghana

This involves administration of the marital union by a religious leader, such as Imam, or a religious minister. But in all forms of the marriages allowed in major parts in Ghana, Customary marriage forms the basic parts.

Before a Christian marriage rite is performed by a minister in Ghana, the union must have been duly registered in court or with a district metropolitan assembly.

The Islamic religious marriage have some twists in their own way of contracting marriage; it is purely based in Islamic laws and Muslim traditions whereby parents arrange partners for their children not minding whether they are compatible or not.

Customary Marriage in Ghana

Customary marriage seems to be the strongest of all the marital forms in Ghana and highly recognized. In it, every necessarily details concerning both families are taken note of. After the woman's consent is given, the customary marriage ceremony as practiced by the bride's ethnic group are performed by the groom's family head, either the father or the uncle.

Though generally with differing ethnic marriage customs, when it comes to customary marriage in major parts of Ghana, one thing that bind them together is the cash and the drinks involvement.

These are widely used but in some parts, drinks and kola are of utmost important, mostly the northern part of Ghana. Marrying more than one wife is also customarily permitted in Ghana but not so with the Christians who usually abide by the biblical principle of "one man one wife"  In conclusion, marriage rites in Ghana is one of their major traditions that they don't joke with at all; with the reasons that it was handed over to them by their forefathers and being an acceptable means of reproductions for the continuity of the human race.

Another side of Ghanaian marriage that even the natives frowns at is using multiple ceremonies to seal one single marriage.

Traditional Marriage

This form of Marriage .. To be continued