Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com
By William Yaw Owusu
Monday, December
21, 2015
National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for
Asawase in the Ashanti Region, Muntaka Mohammed Mubarak, has admitted that he
got married to a girl just three days after she completed writing her West
Africa Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
The Asawase MP also admitted that he was ‘embarrassed’ when people
started questioning the age of the girl who is currently his second wife.
He however, said he was not ‘embarrassed’ when she became pregnant
and insisted that his second wife was not underage.
The MP was being cross-examined by lawyers for DAILY GUIDE in an ongoing
libel suit he filed at the Human Rights Courts in Accra.
Reliefs
Alhaji Muntaka has sued DAILY
GUIDE’s former reporter, Morgan Owusu; the Editor, Fortune Alimi; News One Editor, Halifax Ansah-Addo and
Western Publications - publishers of DAILY GUIDE and New One - over a publication that his second wife was an SHS
student.
He wants GH¢600,000 in damages for publications in DAILY
GUIDE and News One respectively
headlined: ‘Muntaka Picks 17-Year old Wife’ and ‘Minister Weds SHS Lover’ published
on May 14, 2012 which he has deemed libelous.
Apart from the damages, the MP wants an apology and retraction, perpetual
injunction restraining the defendants from further publication of the
‘defamatory matter’ as well as cost and or other reliefs.
The defendants have vehemently denied the defamatory imputation and
said words complained of by Alhaji Muntaka were published on a matter of public
interest and that the publication was for the benefit of the public.
Pregnant Girl
The MP told the court that he did not impregnate the lady before he
married her and pointed out that they got married on May 13, 2012 and the wife
gave birth to a baby boy on December 20, 2012 which translates into about 7
months and one week.
He said he did not ‘befriend’ the young lady while she was a student
at SHS, even though he confirmed that the marriage arrangement was started
three clear months when the girl was still in school before the grand marriage ceremony
in Kumasi.
Crossfire
Daily Guide
Lawyer: Now, Hon. Muntaka, I am putting it to you that you were befriending this
young girl while she was a student at the Senior High School.
Muntaka: My Lord, I
said no earlier. I said that I knew her before the marriage because I had seen
her. Lawyer: As a matter of fact,
you impregnated her before the marriage.
Muntaka: That cannot be
the case.
Lawyer: I also put it
to you that she gave birth naturally without any cut; if she was cut it would
have been after nine months.
Muntaka: My Lord, the
hospital where she gave birth is there, the records are there. She herself is
there. I repeat my Lord, she gave birth prematurely through caesarean section.
Lawyer: As a matter of
fact, after her last exam.
Muntaka: Yes my Lord,
after she graduated, she never went back to write any exams.
Lawyer: What I am
saying is that you married after the last exam; that is, paper. Graduation
maybe later but after the last paper, that is, after she finished her last
paper you married her.
Muntaka: My Lord, she
completed school; a few days after she completed, we got married, I can’t
remember any government secondary school doing graduation. I don’t know
anything about graduation. All I know is that she completed before we got
married.
Growing
Pregnancy
The Asawase NDC MP said it was not the case that he had to quickly
marry the young lady because her stomach was growing big.
Lawyer: You had to do
so because her stomach was growing big and it was becoming an embarrassment to
you.
Muntaka: My Lord that
is not the case.
Lawyer: Now, according
to you Hon. Muntaka, at some stage you were getting embarrassed because people
were asking you questions over the age of your new wife. Is that correct?
Muntaka: Yes my Lord.
South Africa Trip
Lawyer: Now among the
steps you took is that you travelled with your wife to South Africa and other
places. Is that correct?
Muntaka: Yes my Lord.
Lawyer: So you made a passport
for your wife to travel with her?
Muntaka: My Lord, she
had a passport before we got married.
Lawyer: I put it to
you that you made the passport for her.
Muntaka: My Lord, I
know that it is the Foreign Affairs Ministry who made passport for all of us. I
don’t know whether he is saying I financed the passport.
Lawyer: That is what I
mean. You financed the passport.
Muntaka: My Lord, that
is not the case.
Lawyer: As a matter of
fact, you made birth certificate for her.
Muntaka: My Lord that
is not the case.
Lawyer: From your
pleadings and from your evidence I gather, please prove me wrong that your
complaint is that you have been accused of having married someone below the age
of 18. Am I right?
Muntaka: Yes my Lord.
Lawyer: And that
marrying somebody under 18 according to you and your understanding of the law
is criminal. Am I right?
Muntaka: No my Lord, my
complaint is that they published that I married a minor. One of them gave the
age 17. The other gave the age 15 or 16. So the emphasis is that I married a
minor who by law is not supposed to be married.
Lawyer: Well, I believe
the two of you agreed that a minor is somebody under 18. Is that correct?
Muntaka: My Lord, the
publishers gave (sic) different ages and reported that I married a minor who is
not supposed to be married. As to what her age is, was not crosschecked and she
was tagged to be a minor.
The case continues.
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