Ghana

  Ghana has launched a digital platform that enables members of the public to verify marriage and divorce records, while also providing access to information on marriage officers, venues and licensed Imams, YEN reports. The platform, known as Marrify, was launched in Accra on August 28 by Marry Right Ghana Limited in partnership with the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection. Marrify operates as a searchable marriage and divorce registry, with records covering ordinance, customary and Islamic marriages. Users can search the platform using details including names, spouse names, towns, churches, denominations, certificate numbers and Gazette numbers. The platform also provides a register of marriage officers appointed to solemnise civil or ordinance marriages, while users can search for licensed marriage venues and Imams. Its records are drawn from sources including the Registrar-General’s Department, courts, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies, and the Ghana Gazette. The Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Dr Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, speaking at the launch, encouraged prospective couples to verify information about their partners, marriage venues and the people officiating their marriages. She said, “It is a reminder of the need to uphold the highest standard of integrity and accountability. “You would not have to take a person’s word for it, even in the most trusted relationship. You can verify with this app. And then again, when making a decision on the venue, who has to officiate the marriage, where it is officiated, the officiant, and the status of the one you are getting married to. “These are the critical issues we need to ponder over, verify and be sure of before taking the needed step. As a ministry, we’ve used our platform to promote the app and engage with our stakeholders and potential beneficiaries. To ensure that Ghanaians live in awareness. So that you do not invest for so many years, resources and find out that all the investment has gone in vain.” She also urged Marry Right Ghana to work with government institutions, religious bodies, traditional authorities and other stakeholders to ensure that information on the platform remains accurate and regularly updated. Marrify also contains divorce records based on court rulings and judgments, with some records linked to the marriages to which they relate. However, the platform cautions that records are still being uploaded and that a search returning no result should not automatically be interpreted as proof that a person has never been married. The platform also allows individuals and institutions to submit marriage and divorce records, together with supporting documents, for verification.