Property Rights of Spouses Bill to have wider consultations

Participants at a two-day consultative workshop on a bill that seeks to protect the property rights of spouses have recommended a wider consultation process to get the views of all sectors of the society. The Bill dubbed: "Property Rights of Spouses Bill," under Article 22 of the 1992 Constitution requires spouses to have equal access to property jointly acquired during marriage and upon dissolution of marriage." The bill also intends to recognise situations where a man and woman live together as husband and wife without performing marriage rites since spouses may make contributions towards the acquisition of property during the relationship. Mrs Fitnat Adjetey, Member of the NGO Leadership and Advocacy for Women in Africa (LAWA), Facilitator of the workshop, however, said the bill did not recognise women who attempted snatching another man's wife. "The law does not protect concubines," she stressed. She pointed out that the bill was expected to have rules and workable standards for the courts in the settlement of such disputes. Mrs Adjetey noted that there were huge challenges for the justice sector in dealing with such issues. However, the bill sought to make provisions for majority of cases. She said the consultation processes had been on-going for some years now, but it was important to have a wider consultation since the issues relating to the law seemed complicated. Ms Hilary Gbedemah also a Member of LAWA, said there would be more discussions to include everybody, including students to ensure that the bill covers all sectors of society. She said: "We will consider adopting an approach where people could walk in to give their suggestions." Ms Gbedemah called for public support to the bill since it could help facilitate the country's development.