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April 26, 1967
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
The petitioner and the respondent were married on 17 December 1960 at the A.M.E. Zion Church, Cape Coast. Before this marriage both parties had had some education in the United Kingdom, the petitioner having studied for three years at Liverpool Calder College for a diploma in domestic science. She holds another diploma in the same discipline from an Australian institution where she underwent some training.
There are two children of the marriage-Nana Ekua Abiw Osei-Koom born on 15 June 1961 and Kwamina Osei-Koom, Jnr., born on 3 February 1963. The petitioner is now a teacher at the Winneba Specialist Training College and the respondent is acting principal of Kikam Technical Institute in the Western Region. The incident which led to the presentation of the divorce proceedings originated from Kumasi where the petitioner and the respondent were working as teachers in 1961. They agreed to have a common fund by bringing their monthly salaries together for the upkeep of the matrimonial home subject to certain payment to be made to each spouse. It appears from the evidence that this arrangement worked well for some time until September 1964 when the petitioner [p.276] realised that she was worse off having regard to the fact that she was receiving a higher salary than her husband. From the evidence there can be no doubt that the arrangement as regards the putting together of their financial resources worked to the greater advantage of the respondent. The petitioner decided therefore not to abide by this arrangement, and on 27 January 1965 a quarrel ensued between the petitioner and the respondent at their home at Danyame in Kumasi. The genesis of the quarrel was that the petitioner refused, on request by the respondent, to show her savings bank book to him and this quarrel to use the words of the petitioner:
"lasted till 1 a.m.... He left and closed all the doors of the rooms of our bunglow at Danyame, Kumasi. He returned and pounced on me as I lay in bed; gave me a slap on the right cheek followed by another on the left. I got out of bed where I had been lying when this assault on me took place with a view to defending myself. As I tried to get out of the bed he held my throat and pinned me down to the bed and he slapped me with the other hand; I managed to get hold of his finger and bit it. As his finger was in my mouth he managed to get hold of a shoe which was near the bed and hit me so hard on my head that I became dazed. He went to the wardrobe and pulle
AI Generated Summary
This High Court divorce petition concerns a Ghanaian couple married on 17 December 1960 at the A.M.E. Zion Church in Cape Coast. Both were trained educators; the petitioner held diplomas in domestic science from Liverpool Calder College and an Australian institution, and taught at Winneba Specialist Training College, while the respondent served as acting principal at Kikam Technical Institute. After initially pooling salaries in a common household fund, disputes over finances escalated. On 27 January 1965 at Danyame, Kumasi, a row over the petitioner’s savings passbook culminated in assaults—slaps, choking, and a blow with a shoe—causing bleeding. She left, briefly returned after Wesley College’s intervention, then on 2 February faced another assault when the respondent demanded her January salary and hurled her against a wall. The court credited her account, found corroboration in the respondent’s apologetic letter (Exhibit B), held the conduct legally cruel, granted a decree nisi, awarded custody to the petitioner on welfare grounds, and assessed costs against the respondent.