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

[FN218]. See supra notes 18-32 and accompanying text (discussing Ghana's obligations under
international law).
[FN219]. We note that as long as there is polygyny, the statute will never apply equally to men
and women but we hope to lessen the disparity by offering suggestions to address some of the
difficulties that women currently face under Law 111 that men do not face.
[FN220]. This recommendation was proposed by the Attorney General's Department, Drafting
Section. See Interview with Attorney General's Department, Drafting Section, Accra (June 14,
2001); AG Dep't Presentation, supra note 191.
[FN221]. This recommendation was proposed by the Attorney General's Department, Drafting
Section. See Interview with Attorney General's Department, Drafting Section, Accra (June 14,
2001); AG Dep't Presentation, supra note 191.
[FN222]. This recommendation was proposed by the Attorney General's Department, Drafting
Section. See Interview with Attorney General's Department, Drafting Section, Accra (June 14,
2001); AG Dep't Presentation, supra note 191.
[FN223]. If section 4 is amended as recommended here, this would remove any choice on the
part of the widow and children as to which house they would inherit. Each spouse would inherit
the house they lived in with the intestate. The recommended changes to Laws 111 and 112 have
been incorporated into the Laws in Annex II.
[FN224]. Justice Kwadwo Owusu, Community Tribunal Chairman in Accra, informed the
Crowley Team that he was relying on section 54(1) of the Courts Act to use his discretion to
stray from a strict application of Law 111 in order to equitably distribute the estate of a woman
in a case before him presently. See Interview with Justice Kwadwo Owusu, Chairperson of
Community Tribunal, Accra (June 14, 2001) (quoting the language of the Courts Act during the
interview).
[FN225]. Several individuals we met with in Ghana discussed, as a weakness of Law 111, its
failure to differentiate between minor and adult children or to consider the financial situation of
the intestate's children. See Interview with Supreme Court Justices Joyce Bamford Addo, George
Acquah, Sopia Akuffo, Accra (June 11, 2001) (noting that the law fails to distinguish between
adult and minor children); Interview with Angela Dwamena-Aboagye, ARK Foundation, Accra
(June 11, 2001) (suggesting that the law should distinguish between minor and adult children but
acknowledging that adult children would resent such a change because they may “have had put
up with a lot for the wealth of the father to accumulate”); Interview with Justice Henry Kwofie,
Circuit Court, Takoradi (June 7, 2001) (suggesting that children who are wealthy should not
inherit under Law 111); Interview with Justice Isaac Lartey-Young, Circuit Court, Tarkwa (June
6, 2001) (suggesting that money should go to younger children because the older ones would be
working and that land should go to the older children).
[FN226]. Interview with Justice Henry Kwofie, Circuit Court, Takoradi (June 7, 2001).