Ghana Launches App to Check If Prospective Partners Are Already Married
Ghana has launched a new digital platform that allows members of the public to check marriage and divorce records before entering into a marriage.
The platform, called Marrify, was launched in Accra on August 28 by Marry Right Ghana Limited, in partnership with the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection.
Marrify operates as a searchable registry covering ordinance, customary and Islamic marriages, allowing users to search records using details including names of spouses, towns, churches, denominations, marriage certificate numbers and Gazette numbers.
The platform also allows users to verify whether marriage officers, churches, venues, pastors and Imams are authorised to conduct marriages in Ghana.
According to the Ghana News Agency, the database draws on records from institutions including the Registrar-General’s Department, courts, local assemblies and the Ghana Gazette. Its founder, Dennis Adjei Dwomoh, said the records date as far back as 1886 and are being regularly updated.
The initiative is designed to help prospective couples make informed decisions and reduce the legal, financial and emotional consequences that can arise when important information about a partner’s marital history is unknown.
However, the platform comes with an important limitation: a failed search does not necessarily prove that someone has never been married, because the database is still being populated and some records may not yet have been uploaded.
The launch reflects Ghana’s wider push to digitise marriage records while improving transparency and accountability in the administration of marriages.
