An ardent viewer of Joy Prime TV has bemoaned how she cohabited blissfully with her fiancée before marriage but she is currently on the brink of divorce.

She detailed how they dated and stayed together for over five years and married three years ago. She said in all that period, she got no hint that her partner had any interest in polygamy.

This has resulted in her discarding the idea that cohabiting before marriage ensures longevity of the relationship, and she called in to Joy Prime's Prime Morning show to share her experience.

“I think cohabiting before marriage is not ideal. Personally, I cohabited with my husband for quite a few years, a few years, almost like 5 to 6 years, and we’ve been married for 3 years and are on the verge of divorce,” she told the host, Asieduwaa Akumia.

Based on her experience, she argues that not everyone will reveal all of their character traits while in a relationship until after marriage, and that cohabitation is not a definite approach to understanding an individual's behaviour.

Explaining the reason for their struggle and risking divorce, she said, “It was after we got married that I realised that he believes in polygamous culture, and he never mentioned it throughout the over five years we lived together. It never came up, and I never knew he’s somebody who even believes in multiple wives until after the marriage.”

A pastor at Christ Cosmopolitan Incorporated, Daniel Boateng-Kusi, who addressed the issue on the show, concurred that cohabitation is not a guarantee for a blissful future.

He stressed that marriage is and everlasting and contract, thus people will reveal their true characteristics no matter how long it may take.

“In marriage, there is a source of permanence because it’s contractual. Someone may think marriage is love, but I keep telling people to keep in mind that marriage is a social construct for the purpose of extending your family, and that is the reason why we don’t just leave the two of you to do what you want.”

Therefore, if not understood in that remit, he said the marriage would go haywire. He added that there must be a binding influence to help sustain the union and create permanence, regardless of the type of marriage.