Hajia Zainab Salihu, Ashanti Regional Treasurer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has condemned the continuous practice of child betrothal and early marriages in most Zongo communities at the expense of Girl-child education.
According to her, most of these marriages are not usually sustained putting the lives of the innocent girls in danger when they opt out of the marriage.
She is calling on parents especially mothers in the Muslim dominated communities to stop forcing their female wards into early marriages.
Hajia Zainab indicated that the shortening of the educational lives of most girls in these communities must be properly looked at by stakeholders to ensure such practice was abolished.
The NPP member noted that she could not have occupied her present position as the party’s treasurer and a banker if she had no educational background.
She further said a recently organized sensitization programme on Girl-child education in the Asawase constituency revealed that majority of the problem regarding early marriages emanated from the parents and not the girls.
“In today’s world, it will be very difficult for one to excel in life without Western education. We need teachers, nurses and doctors in Ghana and our girls in the Zongo communities can equally be,” she said.
Hajia Zainab is therefore appealing to parents to prioritize the education of their female wards which she believes can enhance development in their localities.
