TACKIE vs. BAROUDI

The appellant and the respondent were married on 2 March 1965, and there are two issues of this marriage. On 30 June 1972, the respondent brought divorce proceedings in the High Court, Accra, seeking the dissolution of their marriage on the ground that the said marriage had broken down beyond reconciliation. At the time of these proceedings, both the appellant and the respondent lived in house No. 1/s, 39 Community No. 1, Tema, as their matrimonial home. On 22 November 1975, Okai J. declared the marriage dissolved, but rejected the respondent’s prayer for the custody of the children. The learned judge instead granted the custody of the children to the appellant, and his reasons for doing this are expressed in the following passage of his judgment: “Suffice it to be said that the mother who is in business has been maintaining the children. It is fair to say that she continued to do that. In all the circumstances of this case, and bearing all the matters in mind [the children’s...