Marriage has taken a beating across the country in the last few years. The long queues of estranged husbands and wives at the offices of the Women and Juvenal Unit of the Ghana Police Service (WAJU) with long lists of complaints, sums up the fear that most marriages in Ghana are ‘no longer for better or for worse’ or ‘till death separate us.’
In fact the growing numbers of divorce cases at the courts and complaints of beatings and rape at WAJU have brought marriages, once thought to be made in heaven to the edge of hell, where they are easily torn apart by meddling mothers’ and fathers’ in laws and sisters’ and brothers’ in laws.
The Station Officer of the WAJU office in Accra, Rita Narh, told Public Agenda that an average of 50 complainants, comprising both men and women visit WAJU daily to lodge complaints. She says a large proportion of 30% of these complaints border on non-maintenance, specifically involving fathers refusing to accept responsibility for the upkeep of their children and wives.
Madam Narh disclosed that about 20 husbands now report cases of battering and assault by their wives at the unit every day. She stated that since the establishment of the unit, the trend or the rate at which husbands and wives lodge complaints has increased as a result of the intensive educational campaigns the WAJU and other human rights organizations were carrying out. ‘It is obvious that people are beginning to know their rights’, she emphasized and urged both men and women to report cases on time to enable WAJU to counsel them to ensure peace in the homes.
Public Agenda has been following a rather sad story at Tesano Police Station and the Accra offices of WAJU of how a University of Ghana graduate, Stephen Gyeabour Danso has been reduced to a punching bag by his estranged wife, Rita Akyaa who has two children with Danso.
Things got to a head in September last year during a slight misunderstanding when Akyaa slapped Danso and hit him with a bar of metal. Enraged, Danso pushed Nancy down and she allegedly feigned a collapse.
Danso was arrested by the Tesano Police on a charge of murder because the Medical Doctor on duty at the Achimota Hospital pronounced her dead on arrival without examining her properly. Later Akyaa regained consciousness when she was being conveyed to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.
When the storm settled, both Danso and Akyaa agreed to divorce, with Danso accepting to compensate Nancy with ¢2 million and additional monthly maintenance allowance of ¢400,000.
Akyaa resurfaced last three weeks after accepting the package and dumped the two kids on Danso, who is currently doing his national service in Accra. She Akyaa was on rampage the next day and this time entered Danso’s room and destroyed all his property and attacked Danso’s new found lover in his absence.
The Tesano Police arrested her and made her to sign a bond that barred her from quarrelling with Danso. But last Sunday April 17, the unrepentant Akyaa in the company of two ‘macho’ men stormed Danso’s residence and gave his new found lover another round of sound beatings.
Akyaa was rearrested by the Tesano Police and hauled to the Greater Accra office of WAJU on Wednesday April 20, where on seeing Danso, she pounced on him and gave him dirty slaps in the full glare of the WAJU police. The police were contemplating putting her in police cells, but considered the plight of her 17 month old baby. Danso told Public Agenda that he restrained himself for the sake of the children. Akyaa and Danso are scheduled to appear before the Social Welfare Section of WAJU on the 28th of April, 2005.
Danso’s story (and those other women being molested by their husbands) is just one of the numerous marital problems being handled by WAJU everyday
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