Ghana: The Polygamous Church Wedding

A Christian Marriage is a monogamous marriage, meaning it can validly exist between one man and one woman only. Thus, there cannot be in existence a polygamous marriage between a man and two or more women and at the same time be recognized as a valid marriage in Christendom or Christianity. For such a polygamous man to undergo a valid Christian marriage, he must dissolve (terminate) the existing polygamous marriage and subsequently enter into a fresh marriage with any one of his previous wives or with a different woman as a new wife. In failing to do this, the man commits the criminal offence of Bigamy under our laws, when the man subsequently enters into a Christian marriage without conversion or dissolution (termination) of the earlier polygamous marriage, be it Mohammedan or Customary Marriages.

Before a Christian marriage can be said to be legally valid, the law requires that the marriage be registered with the Registrar of Marriages. Without registration, no Christian marriage can be said to be have come into existence. This is so even where there has been in existence the celebration of a church wedding. It is therefore imperative to note here that, what gives validity to the Christian marriage is not the church wedding but the registration with the Registrar of Marriages. However, instead of the law saying there is no marriage at all between the parties who fail to register their church wedding, the law in its wisdom and in certain circumstances normally imputes a valid customary marriage as existing between the parties from the church wedding which was not registered. This implies therefore that the celebrated church wedding, always preceded by an ‘Engagement’ celebration, which was intended to be a Christian Marriage (Monogamous), is still a Customary Marriage (Polygamous).

Despite the fact that a church wedding has been conducted between a man and a woman, blessed by a priest, marriage vows exchanged between the parties, marriage certificates issued by the church (which is different from marriage certificates issued by the Registrar of Marriages), certificates signed by the parties and witnessed by the priest, and recorded in the church’s marriage register, the law will not recognize the church wedding as a valid and legally recognized Christian Marriage unless: The Church is licensed by the Registrar of Marriages as a place for celebration of marriages; the priest is a licensed officiating minister with the authority of the Registrar of Marriages to officiate Christian Marriages; the parties had earlier obtained marriage certificates from the Registrar of Marriages prior to or after the church wedding; the said marriage certificates signed by the parties during or after the ceremony; and witnessed by the said licensed officiating minister. The law recognizes the signing and the witnessing of the signatures as bringing into existence a valid and legal Christian marriage (Monogamous) between the parties thereto. To forgo all these designations (licensing), obtaining a Principal Registrar’s Licence may allow the parties to perform the church wedding at anywhere and by any priest and the signing of the License is what gives validity to the marriage as a Christian Marriage.

A person may convert his or her Customary Marriage to any other Marriage. This is what is termed as “Conversion of Marriages” under our laws. Thus, parties to a Customary Marriage (Polygamous) but with only one wife at the time may convert their marriage into a Christian Marriage (Monogamous) by undergoing a subsequent registration with the registrar of marriages of their marriage as a Christian marriage. So the conversion here is automatic upon registration. However where the customary marriage (polygamous) is with two or more women, there must first be a termination of the existing customary marriage and a new Christian Marriage entered into with only one woman. Where there has been termination of an earlier marriage and a new type of marriage assumed, that cannot be said to be a conversion because conversion deals with what is in existence and not what is dead (terminated). For a conversion from a Customary Marriage (whether with one or more wives) into a Mohammedan Marriage (Polygamous), it is also automatic upon registration because both marriages are potentially polygamous and so mere registration with the Registrar will suffice. There cannot be a conversion from a Christian Marriage to a Mohammedan Marriage and vice versa or from any marriage to a Customary Marriage, and this is because in all instances, one has to dissolve the earlier existing marriage. In failing to first dissolve the earlier marriage, Bigamy is committed.

In summation: (Customary Marriage + Registration as Christian Marriage = Christian Marriage) (Customary Marriage + Registration as Mohammedan Marriage = Mohammedan Marriage) (Christian Marriage + Dissolution + Registration as Mohammedan Marriage = Mohammedan Marriage) (Christian Marriage + Dissolution + Registration as Customary Marriage = Customary Marriage) (Mohammedan Marriage + Dissolution + Registration as Christian Marriage = Christian Marriage) (Mohammedan Marriage + Dissolution + Registration as Customary Marriage = Customary Marriage)

In short, if you have done an ‘Engagement’ celebration before your church wedding; if you have signed a wedding certificate issued to you by your church and not by the Registrar of Marriages; if the place where the church wedding was held was not designated by the Registrar; If the priest was not licensed as a marriage officiating minister by the Registrar; If you have never signed a marriage certificate issued by the Registrar, then your church wedding was a mere church blessing of and was never a legal and valid Christian marriage (Monogamous) but a Customary Marriage (Polygamous) and your husband is entitled to marry additional women. You can only prevent him from doing so by going to the Registrar to register your church wedding as a Christian Marriage. If he or she refuses or marries additional spouse (In Ghana, it is applicable to only men), you may go to court to seek damages (monetary compensation) for breach of promise to marry you under the Christian Marriage. This remedy is available to the parties because the law presumes that where parties undergo a church wedding, they intend to marry under the Christian Marriage even in the absence of any registration.

REFERENCES:

Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29); Sections 262 -265

Aning v. Kingful
{1980} G.L.R. 404

Barake v Barake [1993-94] 1 GLR 635

Graham v Graham [1965] GLR 407 HC