Law, Culture and Women's Inheritance Rights in ... - Leitner Center

[FN99]. A woman also suffers negative consequences upon divorce. Under customary law, the
husband or wife must refund the money exchanged for the arrangement of the marriage and
settle any other debts they may have between them in order to divorce. Oppong, supra note 54, at
31. In both matrilineal and patrilineal groups, a man is required to give the woman a “send-off”
upon divorce, if she is not at fault; however, the amount of the send-off is wholly discretionary.
Kotey & Tsikata, supra note 1, at 221; see also Interview with Mrs. Sheila Minkah-Premo, Apex
Lawconsult, and Angela Dwamena-Aboagye, The Ark Foundation, Accra (Feb. 21, 2001)
(claiming that sometimes amount husband must give to wife for divorce can be as little as
U.S.$10). In some places in Ghana, the lineage will count the pieces of cloth a wife brings with
her to the marriage and will make sure that the woman leaves with the same number. Interview
with Rosaline Obeng-Ofori, Actionaid, Accra (June 4, 2001). If she is at fault for the divorce, her
lineage could be required to pay all debts incurred on her behalf during the marriage and the
bride price. One study found that among the patrilineal Ewe, a wife could expect drinks and
some monetary compensation to her family upon divorce. The same study found that, among the
Akan, women, or their extended families, could receive monetary compensation, drinks, cloth,
and in some cases, a portion of the husband's farm.
[FN100]. Kludze, supra note 41, at 256; Manuh, supra note 41, at 81; Okali, supra note 47, at 14;
Dowuona-Hammond, supra note 41, at 138; Naylor, supra note 69, at 50, 74; Baden et al., supra
note 4, at 9; Dankwa, supra note 41, at 7.
[FN101]. Kludze, supra note 41, at 182; Dowuona-Hammond, supra note 41, at 13; Dankwa,
supra note 41, at 1-2. Dankwa notes that:
The concern for widows stems from the belief that they experience more hardship on the
death of their husbands than widowers on the death of their wives. Custom and tradition have
relegated the wife to the duties of house-keeping, raising and caring of children and assisting the
husband in almost all of his endeavours. Specifically, when she helps the husband to acquire
property, the traditional position, as is evidenced by cases such as Quartey v. Martey is that she
acquires no propietary interest in such property.
Id.
[FN102]. Dowuona-Hammond, supra note 35, at 138.
[FN103]. There are several principles that regulate the appointment of a successor: “(i) a person
cannot appoint his own successor; (ii) succession is by appointment by the family; and (iii)
succession is not as of right but by appointment.” Kludze, supra note 41, at 276; see also
Oppong, supra note 54, at 30 (claiming that older sibling of deceased or child of deceased's sister
is often chosen as successor).
[FN104]. Kludze, supra note 41, at 276; Dorothy Dee Vellenga, The Widow Among the
Matrilineal Akan of Southern Ghana,in Widows in African Societies: Choices and Constraints
225 (Betty Potash ed., 1986).
[FN105]. Dowuona-Hammond, supra note 35, at 138; Enoch D. Kom, Inheritance, Marriage and
Divorce 5 (1993).