Tumu: A 21-year-old resident of the Sissala area, Miss Rufia Luguda, has revealed that increasing pressure of forced marriage through elopement is pushing many young girls to migrate to southern Ghana to engage in head portering, popularly known as Kayayei.
According to Ghana News Agency, Miss Luguda stated in an interview that many girls flee their communities to avoid being forcibly married off through elopement. She explained that these girls prefer to seek livelihood opportunities in urban centers rather than risk being forcibly taken into marriages with unknown men. Kayayei, or female porters, typically engage in carrying goods on their heads for a fee in markets and transport stations. This practice is often linked to rural-urban migration, poverty, unemployment, and gender-related socio-economic challenges.
Miss Luguda, who was recently rescued from a controversial network marketing scheme, Qnet, recounted her journey. Her involvement began when an elder sibling introduced her to the Neo-Life marketing network, where she worked under difficult and restrictive conditions for about a year before escaping. She then traveled to Accra and spent eight months working as a head porter at Agbogbloshie Market, enduring harsh conditions to earn money for rent and food.
She narrated a near-death experience after encountering a criminal gang, which forced her to flee without collecting her earnings. Despite these hardships, many girls still view the Kayayei business as a means of achieving financial independence and escaping forced marriages. Miss Luguda described the traumatic nature of elopement, highlighting that some girls are forcibly taken away by groups of men and may not even know who intends to marry them, with decisions sometimes made without their consent.
Miss Luguda also revealed that girls who escape forced marriages often face stigma and rejection within their communities, being treated as outcasts, which further limits their chances of marriage in the future. She urged parents to pay close attention to their daughters' welfare and protection to prevent them from migrating to cities, where they become vulnerable to exploitation.
Now back home, she expressed hope of continuing her education after completing Senior High School and advised her peers to prioritize education over migration. Meanwhile, Madam Bedaw Mohammed, an officer at the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) in the Sissala East Municipality, disclosed that about 10 cases of elopement were investigated between 2025 and 2026. She noted that domestic violence cases are also increasing in the area and urged victims to report incidents to appropriate authorities for redress.