Is breaking the customs of your culture necessary a crime under the laws of Ghana?
Well, the story of a man by the name Glah, who was prosecuted by the state for having children with his wife, his wife's mother and his wife's sister, would give us some education on the distinction between the laws of the state and customs.
On Saturday, January 21, 1989, the District Magistrate Grade II in Kpando in the Volta Region, sentenced Glah to 12 months imprisonment with hard labour and his co-accused (his mother-in-law and his sister-in-law) a fine of ¢15000.
And what was their crime, Glah and his in-laws engagement in extramarital affairs that resulted in him fathering two children with each of them? They were sentenced by the court after they pleaded guilty to the charge of conduct conducive to a breach of the peace contrary to section 207 of the Criminal Code, 1960 (Act 29).
However, after the conviction, the lawyer of Glah, his mother-in-law and his sister-in-law, Homenya, appealed to the court to overturn its decision.
He argued that having an affair with a mother-in-law or a sister-in-law did not constitute an offence under the laws of Ghana.
He added that the magistrate should not have accepted the plea of guilty of the accused person.
The state attorney, Dzanku argued that the court should dismiss the appeal because “the conduct of the appellants was insulting as a breach of the peace is likely to be occasioned. He submitted that the appellants were put before the chief and elders of Dafor as well as the Provisional National Defence Council (P.N.D.C.) District Secretary, Kpando, and were warned to desist from such immoral acts and association but have not paid heed. He further submitted that if other members of the family of the three women had not exercised restraint serious breach of the peace would have occurred”.
The judge, who presided over the appeal, Amuah J., sided with the lawyer of Glah and his in-laws.
He said that there was evidence that Glah had lived peacefully with his wife, his mother-in-law and his sister-in-law, for 17 years and that he had even fathered 2 children each with the three women.
The judge indicated the accused persons committed no crime under Section 207 of Act 29 which states that “any person who in any public place or at any public meeting uses threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with intent to provoke a breach of the peace or whereby a breach of the peace is likely to be occasioned, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour”.
“The emphasis is on a public meeting or public place. These immoral acts were committed away from the eye of the public. There is also the fact that the first appellant is having two children each with his wife,” the judge is reported to have said in a Ghana Law Report on the case.
The judge also stated categorically that one violating customary laws cannot be equated to violating the laws of the country.
“There is no doubt that customary law frowns upon such a conduct but it is not caught by any section of the Act,” the judge said.
He went ahead to grant the appeal and acquitted and discharged, Glah and his two in-laws.
Read the full report on the case below:
BAI/OGB
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A judge acquitted, saying he committed no crime