Claim: Social media users claim that couples who seek a divorce in Ghana’s court must appear in the same attire they used for their wedding.
The claim is false. Ghana’s law regarding divorce does not require couples to appear in their wedding attire when seeking a divorce. Moreover, the picture being circulated does not originate from Ghana.
Full Text
A post that has gone viral on social media claims that the appearance of Ghanaian couples seeking a divorce in court must be the same as they did when they got married.
This claim, which is on Facebook, has been shared over 200 times and has attracted over 700 comments.
“In Ghana, you must be present in the same suit you wore on your wedding day, in order for the divorce proceedings to take place,” the claim when translated to English reads.
This is not the first time such a claim has come up. In 2018, the same claim was made on several social media platforms, as can be seen here, here, here, and here.
Verification
A reverse image search of the photo led us to thisisnews.com, a humor website that has indicated that its content is “fiction and does not correspond to reality.” A 2018 publication on the website used the photo with the headline “In Ghana you must dress like your wedding day to get divorced.”
“Ghanaians are allowed to divorce but as long as people attend court dressed the same way when they get married. This condition creates very humorous situations in the so-called «Divorce Rooms», where Ghanaians must go if they want to end their marriage,” the story reads.
We also found the circulating photo in the image collections of Alamy, a British privately owned stock photography agency. In their photo description, they indicated that the image was taken in Uganda in 2009.
“Friends and family gather for the group wedding of six couples in the church at the Lacekocot Internally Displaced Persons Camp in Pader. The wedding was made possible by the donation of wedding dresses and wedding items from the United Kingdom,” Alamy indicated.
Mrs. Juliana Addo-Yobo, a private legal practitioner, in an interview with DUBAWA dismissed the claim that couples must appear in their wedding attire when they appear in court for a divorce hearing.
“They are not to appear in their wedding attire. They can dress as ordinary people and appear in court, provided it is decent,” Mrs. Addo-Yobo said.
“That is not true. It is never never true,” she added.
Divorce in Ghana
The Matrimonial Causes Act, 1971 (Act 367) governs the current law on divorce in Ghana. Nowhere in the Act does it require the couple to appear before the court in the same attire they used for the wedding.
Mrs. Addo-Yobo, speaking to DUBAWA on what the procedure for divorce is in Ghana, said that a party seeking a separation must see a lawyer to discuss his or her side of the story.
“Your issues are written and put before the court. The other party is served, and because it is a divorce petition, it must be served personally to the defendant,” she explained.
Conclusion
Ghana’s law regarding divorce does not require couples to appear in their wedding attire when seeking a divorce. Moreover, the picture being circulated does not originate from Ghana.
