Ghana: Information on the Akan custom of Asiwa and on whether a husband provides a dowry when he marries
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 August 1997 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | GHA27436.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ghana: Information on the Akan custom of Asiwa and on whether a husband provides a dowry when he marries, 1 August 1997, GHA27436.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ac2f60.html [accessed 17 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Information on Asiwa other than that provided in Response to Information Request GHA19263.E of 20 December 1994 could not be found among the sources currently available to the DIRB. However, according to Christine Oppong, author of Middle Class African Marriage in Ghana:
The essential element of the marriage contract is the gift of drinks (tiri nsa) by the head of the groom's lineage to the head of the bride's lineage. This is accompanied by the handing over of small gifts to close kin, father and matrikin as well as a gift to the bride herself (1981, 30).
The author further states that a divorce is not effective until the tiri nsa has been repaid and that a divorced wife "is not at liberty to remarry until this bill of expenses and the head money are repaid" (ibid., 31). For additional information on this topic, please consult the atttached document.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.
Reference
Oppong, Christine. 1981. Middle Class African Marriage: A Family Study of Ghanaian Senior Civil Servants. London: George Allen & Unwin.
Attachment
Oppong, Christine. 1981. Middle Class African Marriage: A Family Study of Ghanaian Senior Civil Servants. London: George Allen & Unwin, pp. 28-51.
