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THE ASHAIMAN Municipal Marriage Registry Office is reported to have rejected over 50 fake marriage certificates designed by unauthorized churches brought to their attention for documentation this year. Some of the fake marriage certificates were believed to have been bought from stationery shops, downloaded from the internet or specially designed by the unregistered churches to officiate marriages. Ashaiman Municipal Assistant Marriage Registrar Mrs. Angela Dzisenu, made this known during the maiden Department of Community Development workshop themed, �Local Learning for Community Education,� to educate women in Ashaiman. The workshop, which brought participants from 10 churches in the municipality, political representatives and various institutions, saw women sensitized on Glaucoma, drug abuse, illegalities in marriage, roles of women during and after the general elections, insurance, among others. Mrs. Dzisenu, who took the women through illegalities of marriage, mentioned that the fake certificates were easily identified because they lacked holograms, wrong serial numbers and fonts, which were inconsistent with those issued by the marriage office. She blamed the development on unauthorized churches and religious ministers conducting marriages, saying that �in some cases, you have more than one religious minister officiating the marriage and issuing church certificate instead of marriage certificate.� According to the assistant marriage registrar, considering the fact that marriage was a serious institution, to be couples should not allow the excitement of getting married throw their procedural caution to the wind but follow the lawful procedure. She noted that the problem has increased in Ghana recently, most especially due to the upsurge of new churches in the country. She called on the public to be vigilant on the type of certificates issued to them by their churches and perhaps seek clarification from a nearby marriage registry office. Ms. Dzesenu further called on all married persons to, as a matter of urgency, contact various Marriage Departments in their area to have their certificates verified before �it is too late.� She implored married persons and those planning to get married to endeavour to be well educated on the legalities of marriage to prevent an exercise in vainness. Earlier, the Municipal Community Development Officer of the Ashaiman Municipal Department of Community Education, Ms. Vera Allotey, described the workshop as an eye opener for the residents, as they got to know what the institution�s job entailed, promising to replicate the education in most churches. The programme was sponsored by ASHMA, NADMO, GLICO, NESTLE Ghana Ltd, Lebanon Community Clinic, Dorrich Catering, Seji Saji Amedornu, New Patriotic Party (NPP) Parliamentary Candidate and the Loveland Multi-Media.