News
Outmoded cultural practices: …widow recounts harrowing experience
A 37-year-old trader has shared her experience on widowhood and called on society to be more humane towards women who find themselves in that state.
She says it is unfortunate that in the Ghanaian society, anytime a husband dies regardless of the circumstances, the widow is fingered as the killer of the man by her in-laws.
“Some of them wanted to take me to my late husband’s grave at night to bathe me with water used to clean his dead body, so I ran away with my two children,” she recounted in an interview with the Spectator on condition of anonymity, on Monday.
She disclosed that the water they were going to use had been stored for three days and the bathe was ostensibly to cleanse her so that no “bad luck” could come to her.
She said when she received the message from a “good samaritan” about the intentions of some of her in-laws to take her through that ritual, she was baffled because both her family and that of her late husband had agreed that there would be no such widowhood rites because her husband died as a Christian.
“I was not going to allow myself to go through that when I heard that the water had been mixed with some substances to make me mad and even cause my death in six months (to confirm the suspicion that I killed my husband) and make my children orphans,” she said.
She questioned why any woman in her right frame of mind who was together with her man raising children and struggling to even pay bills, could take the life of her husband.
“Imagine single handedly paying bills and taking care of two children aged three and eight under this economy?” she questioned.
The trader said her husband did not own any property to even motivate her to termination his life in the first place and that their rent had even expired at the time of his death.
“He was involved in a road crash but I was shocked to hear that because I did not give him his peace of mind, that is why he became absent minded when crossing the street and was knocked down,” she said.
She said the back and forth with the family about the death of her husband, preparations towards his burial and life after, had seriously affected her mental health.
“The fact that they even wanted to take my children from me because they said I did not have the financial muscle to take care of them and also that the children belonged to her late husband’s family was most torturing” she disclosed.
She said it was interesting that she and her children were asked to pay GH¢1,000 for the funeral and when they incurred a debt the family again told her to pay about GH¢4,000 more though they did not allow her guests to eat the food they prepared for those who attended her husband’s funeral.
The woman said she had been denied access to her late husband’s shop but the family was unwilling to give any financial support to cater for the children.
She said she was never going to allow anyone to take her children from her but feared she might lose the strength to fight them along the line and wished she could get help from the public to keep her in-laws away.
“I need legal advice and action to protect my children and I” she pleaded.
From Dzifa Tetteh Tay, Tema.
Hot!
Attorney General charges Chairman Wontumi and two others over alleged GH¢18.7 million Ghana Exim Bank fraud
The Office of the Attorney General has charged Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, and two others over the alleged fraudulent acquisition of funds from the Ghana Export-Import Bank for a farming project.
The charges were brought against Chairman Wontumi, Thomas Antwi-Boasiako, who is currently at large, and Wontumi Farms Limited.
According to court documents released by the Attorney General’s office, Chairman Wontumi, identified as the first accused person, allegedly approached the Ghana Exim Bank in January 2018 for financial support to undertake a large-scale farming project.
The prosecution said he applied for a GH¢19 million facility on behalf of Wontumi Farms Limited and claimed that the company had secured a 100,000-acre parcel of land for the proposed farming venture.
The Attorney General alleged that documents submitted together with the application contained false information.
According to the prosecution, one of the documents presented as a board resolution letter was dated January 23, 2018, but referred to a board resolution supposedly passed on December 9, 2017, four days before the company was officially incorporated on December 14, 2017.
The prosecution further stated that the accused persons also submitted a project proposal claiming that 2,500 hectares of the proposed farm would employ about 6,000 families, representing nearly 38,000 individuals.
Court documents indicate that the Ghana Exim Bank later approved an GH¢18.7 million facility made up of loans and grants for the project.
The facility was reportedly intended for the purchase of agricultural machinery, working capital, staff costs and consultancy services.
According to investigators, the bank disbursed more than GH¢14.3 million to the company between January and March 2018.
However, investigations by the Economic and Organised Crime Office of the Attorney General allegedly found that the proposed farming activities were never carried out.
The prosecution said the accused persons neither purchased the agricultural machinery nor secured the land they claimed to own for the project.
Investigators also alleged that Chairman Wontumi later submitted a document to the bank as proof that the company had purchased agricultural machinery worth GH¢4 million.
However, investigations reportedly established that the document was originally a pro-forma invoice from KAS-SAMA Enterprise and not an actual receipt.
According to the Attorney General’s office, the inscription “Pro-forma Invoice” was allegedly altered and replaced with the word “Receipt” before it was submitted to the bank.
The prosecution further alleged that Chairman Wontumi withdrew large sums from the company’s accounts and used the funds for personal expenses and investments in other businesses.
The Attorney General stated that attempts by the bank to recover the money were unsuccessful.
The Economic and Organised Crime Office reportedly began investigations into the matter in March 2025.
Chairman Wontumi was later arrested, cautioned and officially charged on May 14, 2026.
By: Jacob Aggrey
The Ministry of Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations has denied claims circulating on social media that the sector minister, Samuel Nartey George, has misused public funds.
In a statement issued to media houses, the Ministry explained that the document being shared online was part of an official request seeking Commitment Authorisation from the Ministry of Finance in line with public financial management and procurement procedures.
According to the Ministry, the request was based on budgetary allocations approved by Parliament for the 2026 fiscal year and covered planned projects, operational activities and programme interventions to be carried out within the year.
It stressed that the request has not yet received approval from the Ministry of Finance.
The Ministry therefore clarified that no funds have been released, disbursed or spent in relation to the items captured in the circulating document.
It described claims suggesting that public funds had already been squandered as “inaccurate, misleading and devoid of context.”
The statement urged the public to treat the allegations with caution and disregard what it described as false interpretations of the document.
The Ministry further reaffirmed its commitment to transparency, accountability and strict adherence to public financial management regulations in the execution of its duties.
By: Jacob Aggrey
News7 days agoGhana’s Chris Koney participates in high-level dialogue at Africa Forward Summit 2026
- Features7 days ago
Fix It Fast or Lose Them Forever: The Ever-Rising Importance of Service Recovery in Competitive Industries
News7 days agoPolice arrest suspects in child exploitation, murder and trafficking cases- CID boss confirms
