By Benjamin A. Commey
Accra, Oct 28, GNA – The Reverend William Amartey Quaye, Resident Pastor of the Christian Worship Centre, Teshie Assembly, has advised married couples to plan and utilise their finances judiciously to prevent financial conflicts, which often disrupt marriages.
He said many marriages were encountering challenges, while others had ended in divorce because of the couples’ desire to live opulent lifestyles.
“You must have what it takes to get what you want. Here is the case where you don’t have it, but because you want to show off, you have to vomit something you don’t have and I am telling you, this is even killing societies, homes and families,” he explained.
“It is also creating problems within the ambience of marriage because you see, if you are a husband or a wife and your spouse doesn’t have it, but you are forcing him to provide, where is he going to get the money from?”
Rev Quaye gave the advice in while contributing to a panel discussion at a summit on divorce, in Accra, over the weekend.
The summit, organised by the Glorious Women on the Go (GWOGO) of the Christian Worship Centre, was aimed at educating couples and potential ones on the impact of divorce on family and society.
It was held on the theme: “Finding Strength Within: Exploring the Matters of Divorce.”
Rev Quaye noted that there had been an upsurge in divorce cases in recent times, attributing many to different forms of financial crises.
According to Ghana’s 2021 Population and Housing Census (PHC), some 553,065 individuals have been divorced, while another 405,090 have gone through separation.
Out of the figure, 362,233 are females, accounting for 65.5 per cent, while the 190,832 males, represent 34.5 per cent.
Rev Quaye said: “As a Pastor, I believe in modesty, what I don’t have I don’t have it! Even what I have I need to manage it well because you don’t know what tomorrow will bring.”
Madam Dorcas Ntiamoah Sackey, a Licensed Clinical Health Psychologist, emphasised the need for couples who wanted to go through divorce to seek counseling from clinical psychologists to help them deal with the impact of the situation.
“Divorce is the second most stressful event in our life and it can happen to anybody. It’s impact is second to losing someone very dear to you to death.
“So, what ideally, a person goes through is the grieving process where the person will be in denial, there will be anger, there will be bargaining, there will be depression and finally the individual will accept their situation.
“The individuals go through a lot of psychological challenges or serious impact, depending on the length of the marriage, if children are involved, if there is a bitter conflict and also the nature of the reason why the divorce was initiated,” she added.
Mr Eric Adjei-Laryea, a Private Legal Practitioner, urged married couples to pursue divorce only as the last option when their marriage encounter challenges.
“I think that divorce should always be the last option, any couple who are going through any kind of trouble with their marriage should seek counseling, and look at other options. If those other options fail then they can consider divorce,” he emphasised.
Mr Stanley Addaquay, a Registered Mental Health Nurse, stressed the need for couples to establish clear communication lines to avoid miscommunication.
“Miscommunication is one of the baseline for divorce, so try as much as possible to keep the communication clear. Let your partner know exactly what you want from him/her and what you do not want,” he said.
He also advised that couples seek psychological assistance when seeking divorce to enable them to deal with any consequences.
Mrs Cassandra Quaye, President of GWOGO, advised couples to avoid comparing their marital lives with those of others, saying “no two marriages are the same.”
There was free breast screening for the patrons of the summit and community members.
GNA