YIRENKYI vs. THE STATE

Akufo-Addo J.S.C. delivered the judgment of the court. The appellant was convicted before Acolatse J. in the High Court, Accra, on the 13th March, 1962, of the murder of a woman—named Afua Ayeley. The case for the prosecution was that the appellant was married, apparently under customary law, to the said Afua Ayeley, that differences arose between the appellant and Ayeley, differences attended by the usual quarrels between man and wife, and which ultimately culminated in the marriage being dissolved in accordance with customary law in the presence of the Chief of Nsawam, where the couple lived. The dissolution of the marriage took place on Saturday, the 10th February, 1962. On the morning of Monday, the 12th February, 1962, at about 7 o’clock, the deceased Ayeley and her sister Korkor were on their way from Djankrom, a district of Nsawam, to the Nsawam market in the centre of Nsawam, when they met the appellant. According to the prosecution, as per the evidence of Korkor, the appel...