MAVIS OSEI OWUSU vs. ROBERT OSEI OWUSU

The petitioner commenced divorce proceedings on 15 May 2015 seeking dissolution of an Akan customary marriage, custody and maintenance orders in respect of the parties’ son, repayment of monies allegedly advanced to the respondent, and settlement of several properties in Ghana and the United Kingdom. The respondent entered appearance, denied that any subsisting marriage remained, and contended that the customary marriage had already been dissolved in July 2011. He also denied liability for the alleged loan and cross-petitioned for declarations that the marriage had been dissolved and that each party should retain his or her own properties. The parties were Ghanaian spouses also resident in the United Kingdom, with one child of the marriage. The central factual controversy was whether the 2011 family meeting in Ghana validly dissolved the customary marriage under Akan law, and, if not, how the court should deal with divorce, maintenance, and distribution of property. Portion of judgment: opening paragraphs setting out the petition and cross-petition; and the passage beginning, “The facts of the case are that the parties who are both Ghanaians were married under Akan customary law...”