[2021]DLSC10165 • April 14, 2021 • Supreme Court •
ERNESTINA BOATENG vs. PHYLLIS SERWAH, BOAMPONG NYAMEKYE AND MARK ADU PREMPEH JNR
The plaintiff and the deceased entered a relationship in Belgium in 1988 and married under Akan custom in 1997. The plaintiff filed for divorce in 2000, claiming joint ownership of two properties. The deceased disputed the marriage's validity and ownership. The deceased died in 2007, and the defendants, claiming as surviving spouse and heirs, obtained Letters of Administration. The plaintiff sought to continue the claim for joint ownership and widow status. The High Court ruled in favor of the plaintiff; the Court of Appeal reversed, declaring the customary marriage void due to a subsisting monogamous marriage of the plaintiff. The plaintiff appealed to the Supreme Court.
read morePWAMANG, JSC:- My Lords, the proceedings that have culminated in this appeal were commenced in the High Court, Accra on 2nd January, 2009 but are a sequel to a partly-heard matrimonial case in that court which was struck out on 31st July, 2007 following the death of the respondent therein, Mark Adu Prempeh (the Deceased). The plaintiff/respondent/appellant (the plaintiff) herein and the deceased met and entered into a relationship in Antwerp, Belgium in 1988 and the relationship lasted for nine years before they came to marry at Kumasi in 1997 in accordance with Akan custom. Problems developed in the relationship in 2000 causing the plaintiff to file a divorce petition against the deceased praying for dissolution of the marriage and also for declaration of joint ownership of two landed properties situate at Tantra Hill and Adabraka, both in Accra. In his defence in the divorce case the deceased disputed the validity of the marriage and denied the plaintiff’s claim of joint ownership.....