GYM vs. INSAIDOO [1965]DLHC1809

Date	1965-08-10
Suit No.
Citation No.	[1965]DLHC1809

KORANTENG-ADDOW J.

J. K. POLLEY FOR THE PLAINTIFF.

J. OFORI BOATENG FOR THE DEFENDANT.

[1965]DLHC1809
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >GYM <o:p></o:p>vs. <o:p></o:p>INSAIDOO <o:p></o:p>[HIGH COURT, SEKONDI]<o:p></o:p>[1965] GLR 574<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in">

DATE:
10 AUGUST 1965.<o:p></o:p>

</div>COUNSEL:&nbsp;&nbsp; <o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in 0in 0in 0in">

J. K. POLLEY FOR THE PLAINTIFF.<o:p></o:p>

</div>CORAM:
<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in 0in 0in 0in">

KORANTENG-ADDOW J.<o:p></o:p>

</div><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>JUDGMENT OF KORANTENG-ADDOW J.<o:p></o:p>For about
four or five years the plaintiff was living and sharing rooms with the
defendant at Essikado, Sekondi, and to all appearances they were husband and
wife. According to the plaintiff she was living with the defendant in a state
of concubinage, but the defendant on the other hand claims that the plaintiff
was his wife. The question of whether the relationship between the parties was
one of concubinage or that of a valid customary marriage would have assumed no
importance had the event culminating in this suit not arisen to ruffle the even
tenor of their relationship.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>According
to the plaintiff, some time in 1959 her sister, the plaintiff’s first witness
was about to leave the town of Sekondi to have a baby at Elmina. The said
sister therefore left in the plaintiff’s charge and custody her room, all her
personal effects and other belongings in a house near the Zongo at Sekondi.
Even though the plaintiff’s sister had not left town the plaintiff had taken
charge of the room. She had gone to the said room on the fateful day when her
sister had left for Kojokrom, a village near Sekondi. When the plaintiff was in
her sister’s room the defendant entered the room with some other persons. He
pounced on the plaintiff and started beating her up. While this assault was
going on the defendant asked his companions to remove all the things in the
room. The companions obeyed the defendant’s orders. Personal effects belonging
to her sister were taken and carried away. On top of that, the defendant
informed the plaintiff that he had seized all the belongings of the plaintiff
in the room he shared with the plaintiff at Essikado.<o:p></o:p>After
many abortive demands made by the plaintiff over a period of seven years for
the return of her things and those belonging to her sister left in her custody,
the plaintiff came to court.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>The
defendant’s version of the happenings leading to and the facts of the seizure
are different. According to him as a result of injuries he sustained in a motor
accident he was admitted into hospital some time in 1957. On his return home he
discovered that an amount of £G322 which he kept in a secret place in the room
he shared with the plaintiff had vanished. He asked the plaintiff about the
money but the plaintiff denied any knowledge of it. At the same time he heard
that the plaintiff had hired a room in another part of the town and had taken
some of her own things and certain things belonging to him into the said room.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>According
to the defendant he reported the matter of the loss of his money and other
belongings to the police and also passed on the information he had had about
the whereabout of the stolen articles to the police. He took the police to the
room where he heard the plaintiff had hidden the things. There he and the
police discovered the missing articles. The police therefore took possession of
them after they had taken an inventory. At the police station the defendant
alleges, “the inspector told me to take the things away because the matter
involved was a matter between husband and wife. I therefore took them away and
gave them to my father to keep.”<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>Both
parties agree that after the seizure of the articles the matter came before
some elders for settlement. The important said elders were Opanyin Kwadjo
Abaka, Nana Anaisie III, the former Omanhene of Dutch Sekondi, Osafohene Gyasi
(the first defence witness) and Mr. Kwofie (the plaintiff’s second witness).
There is however a good deal of conflict about the happenings at the meeting as
well as the result. There is even a doubt as to how the matter found its way
before the elders. According to the plaintiff it was the defendant who made a
complaint to the elders. According to the defendant however the matter was
withdrawn from the police station at the request of the plaintiff or the
members of the plaintiff’s family.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>