The Birth and Death Registry has been ordered to roll back a directive preventing parents from giving certain names it deemed titles to their children.
Local Government Minister Hajia Alima Mahama, who appeared before parliament on Tuesday following a public uproar over the directive, said she had ordered the Birth and Death Registry to suspend implementation.
A 2009 standard operating procedure manual barred the use of names such as 'Maame', 'Nana', 'Papa', 'Nii', 'Nene', etc.
Head of the Birth and Death Registry, John Agbeko, argued these names are titles and ought not to be registered as part of a child's name. It could, however, be used as alternate names for such children which would not go into their record books for official purposes.
Criticism of Birth and Death Registry
The move attracted widespread criticism from many quarters including MPs Haruna Iddrisu and Joseph Osei Owusu, who questioned its legal basis.
According to them, the stance by the Birth and Death Registry was "a gross violation of the rights of Ghanaians to choose names (particularly Ghanaian names) as they deem fit for their children, subject to the right to change one’s name at any time later in life."
Pressure group Occupy Ghana in a statement to the Attorney General said they had not seen any provision that either supported this policy or gave the Registrars Birth and Death Registry any power to refuse to register any name.
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Hajia Alima Mahama said her outfit had taken notice of the public dissatisfaction over the issue and has asked for a review of the standard operating procedure to enable parents to give such names to their children if they so desire.
"The acting Registrar of Births and Deaths Registry has been directed to review the SOP and further directed that names such as Paapa, Nana, Nii, and so on as given by the parents should be accepted for registration," she said.
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