KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

A REPORT ON MARRIAGE CERMONY IN MY COMMUNITY - AKAN

BY CHINEBUAH KWAME APPIAH BSC. PETROCHEMICAL ENGINEERING INDEX NO. 4761410 NOVEMBER 2013

MARRIAGE CEREMONY AMONG THE AKANS

The importance of family and the conscious awareness of ties and kinship is a one of the main features of the communal structure of African society. In Ghanaian contexy, family does not only comprise husband, wife and children, it extends to the extended family which consists of a large number of blood relatives who trace their descendant to a common ancestor and who are held together by a sense of obligation to one another. Marriage is considered a basic institution in every human society. It is recognized as a social institution, not only for establishing and maintaining the family, but also for creating and sustaining the ties of kinship. Without the institution of marriage there would be no family, nuclear or extended and therefore no kinship ties. Marriage according to Longman Dictionary of contemporary English is a union of man and a woman by a ceremony in law. Marriage by a priest is Lawful in England without another ceremony; it is a state of being so united. It is therefore for life i.e. it should last all one's life and is a serious business. Genesis 2: 18 and the Lord God said: it is not good for a man to be alone. Let us make him a help like unto himself. And the Lord God having formed out of the ground all the beasts of the earth, and all the fowls of the air, brought them to Adam to see what he would call them: for whatsoever Adam called any living creature the same is its name. And Adam called all the beasts by their names and all the fowls of the air, and all the cattle of the fields: but for Adam there was not found a helper like himself.

In Ghana, marriage is constructed according to the custom of ethnic group of which the couple live. Usually this includes a religious ceremony and a civic registration ceremony commonly known as a wedding.

Generally, marriage in Ghana is recognized as a union between a man and a woman with the knowledge of both families of the bride and the groom. In the Volta region of Ghana area, marriage is a union between a man and a woman who agree to live together as husband and wife and have gone through all procedures recognized in the society for such a purpose. In Ghana, the purpose of marriage is to provide companionship for the couple, the means to offer support for each other, and a legitimate avenue for sexual satisfaction and reproduction. Marriage is usually a group affair which involves not only the immediate relatives of the couple but more distant kin folk. However, in selecting and accepting a potential spouse, certain important conditions have to be met. Members of each family are screened for incurable or contagious diseases, criminal backgrounds, violent behaviour, respectfulness, employment status or standard of living, and religious background. Generally, many Ghanaians prefer a spouse who is hardworking and respectful, peaceful (not violent or do not advocate violence), and of the same or compatible religious background. Christians and Muslims do not generally intermarry. However, conversion from one religion to another is preferable prior to marriage. There are three-(3) primary criteria in classifying the marriage process:

Customary marriage Civic registration Religious marriage

Customary marriage forms the basis of all three-(3) types. Inquiries are made by both families to ensure the family of the prospective son-in-law or daughter-in-law is respected. Usually violent behaviour, immorality, witchcraft, incurable or contagious diseases, and insanity in a family are not approved.

The customary rites or marriage ceremony, as practiced by the woman's ethnic group, are performed by the man's head of family, by the father or uncle or any member of the family who is recognized by the community as honourable. Presentation and acceptance of drinks and gifts known as dowry bride wealth signifies the consent of family members to the marriage. It is also a sign or a token of support for the marriage and is used to compensate the parent for the loss of the services of their daughter. The dowry or the bride wealth does not represent the prize at which the woman has been sold to the man. Customary marriages differ among societies. Despite the differences, drinks and cash are widely used. Although cash is involved in the northern part of Ghana, drinks and cola are also used. One characteristic of customary marriage is that it allows polygamy thus it allows the man to marry more than one woman. However, Christians who complete a religious marriage usually abide by the biblical principle of one man one wife. Religious marriage involves administration of the marital union by a Priest, religious minister or Imam. However, the customary marriage and the registration of the marriage in the court or district metropolitan assembly should occur before Christians marry. The Islamic marriage ceremony conforms to the Islamic law and traditions. According to Muslim traditions, parents arrange a suitable partner. Compatibility is not considered important, the choice is entirely in the parents hand. Professor N.K Dzobo (1975:35) in Traditional School of Marriage, defined marriage as one of the supreme aims of life in the traditional Ewe society and as a union between man and woman to perpetuate the lineage through procreation. Marriage, he noted, has been instituted as the acceptable and respectable mode of ensuring the continuity of the family line. Children, he pointed out emphatically, are therefore expected to be the first fruits of marriage and young men thus always look for young women who come from families that have a high birth rate.

He therefore goes on to say, marriage, consequently has become a means whereby a man and a woman fulfill the main aim of their personal lives; i.e. to make possible for the lineage to continue in existence.

In the Akan traditional community, when a man comes of age and he wishes to marry, first discusses the intentions with the girl that he wants to marry. The man has to make sure that the girl will agree to marry him before he informs his parents about his decision to marry the girl. He does this by finding out through secret meetings whether the girl will accept his proposal and marry him. This is known in our local parlance as kasasie.. He does this up until such a time the girl accepts the proposal and agrees to marry him. After the girl has accepted the mans proposal, he then goes on to tell an elderly person in his family, usually the mother about his intentions. His mother or the elderly person will in turn inform the mans father. Even before the mother or elderly person informs the father, if he or she feels that the marriage will not be possible for some reason, she will try to discourage the man so that he does not marry that particular girl.

The father after receiving the news thinks about it and if he agrees, then an investigation will begin immediately. This investigation usually covers the girls general conduct and attitude.

Her family background is also looked into to ascertain that there are no known hereditary illness, madness, curses and other prohibitions within her family that will cause harm to the the couple or any children they may have in the future. After the investigations are through, the mans parents examine the result and if they are satisfied the father takes the next step.

The father then sends a delegation to the girls family to inform the girls parents about his sons intention to marry their daughter. This information that is sent to the girls family is known as abowmu bodze or opon-akyi bo (knocking ceremony).

The delegation accompanies this information or announcement with a pot of palm wine or a bottle of schnapps. Some amount of money is also added to the drink. This amount that is paid usually differs from community to community. Aside the amount that custom demands, the man may choose to add some extra money.

He usually does this in an attempt to impress his in-laws that he has the resources and is well capable of taking very good care of their daughter. In some communities, this money is usually referred to as a token gift for the girls mother. The girls parents listens to them, after which they make known of the fact that indeed, they have received their message. The girls parents then ask them to go back and come later for an answer. They ask them to do this so that they can also get ample time to investigate the boys attitude and conduct and his family background just as the mans family did. Like the mans family, they also want to ensure that the family their daughter is marrying into does not have any hereditary illness, curses, etc. This time will also enable them to sit the girl down and talk to her to find out whether she really agrees and wants to marry the man. When they have also finished conducting their investigations and are satisfied with the results, they send word to the mans family asking them to come forward.

According to customs, the father is supposed to pay for the marriage expenses of the son. However, nowadays, most young man who come of age and want to marry, after going through the above process, give the money to their fathers for the marriage rites.

The father then sends a message to the girls parents to inform them of the date for the rites. After the girls parents have received the information, both then inform their maternal relatives to send their representative to the ceremony. On the appointed date set for the ceremony, the mans father sends a delegation to perform the rites. The most important part of the whole ceremony is the offering of drinks known as tiri nsa (head drinks). In the past, the drink that was mostly used was palm wine, but now, schnapps is mostly used. The tiri nsa traditionally seals the marriage. Some money is usually added to the drink. Again, the amount of money given differs from community to community. Aside the money added to the tri nsa, there is also a customary fee charged to be given to the girls mother. All brothers of the girl are also given some money known as akontagye sekan.

This is usually given as payment to the brothers for looking after the girl and making sure no harm ever came to her. Before the payment of the customary drinks and the fee, the girl is formally called before the gathering to give her final consent to the marriage. After accepting everything, the head of the family from the girls family pours libation asking for protection and blessings for the new couple. He also prays that the marriage should be blessed with many children. The rest of the drink is shared among all the people present. This is done as a way signifying that they are all witnesses to the marriage. After the sharing of the drinks, the elderly present, especially the parents of the couple take turn to give advice to the couple. The man can then fix a day to take his wife home.

There is another important rite which can be performed on the same day or at any time in their married life.

It is an amount of money which is known as ti-aseda or ti-ade paid to the girls family. This is what might be termed bride wealth. Nowadays, ti-aseda is usually to show the mans appreciation to the girls family for giving their daughter away. In the past, the girls family used this amount to pay any debt in the family. They believed that using that money to pay such a family debt would give her the peace of mind to enjoy her married life.

In a situation where there was no such debt, it was used to buy some property, e.g., a land or a farm for her and her future children. In the advent of a divorce, the husband could claim the ti-aseda or ti-ade from the wifes family.

A day is fixed for taking the bride away to her husband. On that appointed day, the bridegroom sends a pot of palm wine or a bottle of schnapps to the brides father for permission to take away his wife. The head of family pours libation with it and blesses the couple once more. When they get to the husbands home, the husband provides her with food items to prepare a special meal for relatives, friends, and himself. This special meal is known as osenka or aduane kese (wedding feast). It is a marriage feast which is followed by jubilation. Traditionally, the osenka was prepared in the brides home and sent to the bridegrooms house where it was shared among relations and friends.

REFERENCES

Anthony A. Aidoo, History of African Traditional Systems, 2013-11-12

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