A 63-year-old priest's marriage to a 12-year-old girl has sparked controversy, with his church defending the union as "spiritual and not physical". The wedding took place on Saturday, March 30, in Nungua, Ghana, where Gborbu Wulomo, Nuumo Borketey Laweh XXXIII, wed the young girl, reportedly named Naa Okromo.
A guest at the ceremony claimed that the marriage was due to an old custom requiring the priest to marry a virgin, adding that there were no virgin girls above nine years old in Nungua. It was said the priest 'selected' the girl when she was just six-years-old.
The incident has caused widespread outrage, with African Education Watch, celebrities, and social media users demanding the immediate arrest of Gborbu Wulomo. It was previously reported that the girl is now under police protection. However, Reverend Dr D.N Gyasi-Ankrah, a representative of the Gborbu Palace, insisted it was a spiritual marriage, and wildly claimed that the priest is merely a vessel for a deity that has already claimed the girl as its wife.
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The holyman selected the girl when she was just six-years-old (Facebook)
Gborbu Wulomo serves as the Overlord of all Ga-Damgbe State (Facebook)He bizarrely stressed that in this context, there is no concept of child marriage or betrothal, and the girl is the wife of the deity called Gborbu, not the Gborbu Wulomo.
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"It was a ceremony introducing the queen one step closer to the Gborbu shrine," he explained, as per the Daily Star.
He added: "The issue stems from physical thinking, but in the spiritual realm, when the deity possesses a child as young as two or three-years-old, to us she may seem young, but the deity will be working with the child because in the spirit realm, there is no concept of age, only maturity."
The marriage ceremony took place on Saturday, March 30, in Nungua, Ghana (Facebook)
A guest, who endorsed the marriage, said the marriage came about due to a longstanding custom (Facebook)He also outrageously claimed that it doesn't matter if the girl likes her role or not.
"I want to stress that the girl may not necessarily like what she is doing or not doing, but she is under the possession of the spirit, and the spirit can come at any time," he added.
He also insisted that the girl is content with her duties, and her parents support her in her role.
There has been confusion over her age, with reports suggesting she is both 13 and 16-years-old after initial reports stating she is 12.
Wor Lumo Boni Nuumo Noi Osekan kpeneku, a member of the Nungua Traditional Council, clarified at a press conference in Accra on Tuesday (April 2) that the girl is actually older than reported.
"The girl in question is actually 16-years-old. We accept and agree that by the constitution of the land, she is underage. But she is not married as is being stated. That is not the issue," he said.
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