Interesting, but startling statistics from the Greater Accra Head Office of Legal Aid Ghana says at least 40% of marriages registered annually in the region break up within a spate of 14 months.

According to the Head of Registry of Legal Aid, the number of females who apply for separation every week far outweighs that of their male counterparts.

Mr. Ernest Mawuli Adzekey revealed this when the College Press newspaper caught up with him in an exclusive interview in his office. The number of divorce cases brought before his outfit from January to September, 2011 shows that the number of cases are expected to exceed that of previous years.

“In the year 2010 we had 125 marital cases which we referred them to our lawyers, but the most important thing is that we managed to settle some of them amicably in our office,” Mr. Mawuli Adzekey noted.

Whiles expressing dismay about the drift, Mr. Mawuli Adzekey divulged that presently there are more than 178 divorce cases pending final adjudication, whereas hearing is yet to be opened on 146 cases.

Though Mr. Mawuli Adzekey could not buttress this with any statistics, he gave a broad indication that regions such as Ashanti, Western and Brong Ahafo could possibly follow the trend, adding that the emerging scourge needs rapid response.

On that score, he asserted that his outfit provides two different forms of legal assistance, which includes legal advice and representation. He explained that the ‘legal advise’ is opened to everybody whiles the ‘legal representation’ on the other hand is opened to only the poor and vulnerable in the society.

Meanwhile sharing his thoughts on this rather alarming situation, Mr. Gideon Asante-Hemeng, a Marriage Counselor based in Accra observed that the churches as well other religious leaders have failed to ensure that couples after marriage are still counseled regularly.

He said a lot of attention have been given to courtship-counseling and it ends right after the couples have taken their marriage vows.

“I believe strongly that our churches and pastors have contributed to the increase in the cases of divorce in the country because little is done after marriage ceremonies.