ADJETEY AND ANOTHER v. ADJETEY

Justice Sarkodee J. decided a matrimonial case involving Elizabeth Adjetey (formerly Elizabeth Adwoa Piramang) and Timothy Adjei Adjetey, who married in 1966 at the Islington marriage registry in London. Elizabeth filed a divorce petition but failed to prosecute; the court adjourned hearings thrice due to her and her counsel’s absence and ultimately dismissed her petition in her absence. Timothy’s cross‑petition alleged adultery and desertion. The court recounted Elizabeth’s disappearance during a move from Kanda Estate to Teshie, her subsequent discovery early one morning at T.D. Baffoe’s Kanda residence preparing breakfast, and her frequent association with Baffoe, including an overnight trip to Koforidua. Applying evidentiary standards that permit inference from disposition and opportunity, the court inferred adultery with Baffoe but rejected a separate allegation involving David Larbie as hearsay lacking proof of opportunity and familiarity. Construing section 2(3) of the Matrimonial Causes Act, 1971 and guided by Ash v. Ash, the court held the marriage had broken down beyond reconciliation, awarded ¢600 damages and ¢400 costs against the co‑respondent, and dissolved the marriage.