AT A GLANCE
Acts such as verbal abuse, starving your spouse and denying them sex among others, constitute grounds for divorce
A lady by name Juliet says her husband hasn’t talked to her for about two decades even though she lives under the same roof with him
Two important points to note – partners who fail to publish their intentions to marry 21 clear days prior to the marriage may be breaching the law and traditional marriages aren’t “engagements”
Denying your partner sex in marriage provides enough grounds to file for divorce, according to private legal practitioner, Kwabena Buabeng.
Other acts such starving your husband and verbal abuses could also tip the case of an aggrieved partner in the judge’s favour when such matters are brought before a court of competent jurisdiction.
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Kwabena Buabeng made these positions known on Adom TV’s legal show, Me Wo Case Anaa, as the show looked at the case of Juliet, a frustrated wife who says she has been maltreated by her husband for about 20 years.
Quoting relevant laws of Ghana to support his arguments Mr. Buabeng categorised Juliet’s claims as an “unreasonable behavior” from her partner.
According to Juliet, her husband rejects her meals and affection and hasn’t talked to her for several years even though they live under the same roof.
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Her desperation for answers is what led to lawyer Buabeng explaining that there are remedies in the law.
He explains that under that section, if a man refuses his wife financial, physical and emotional upkeep as well as refusing to cater for their children, he has committed an offense.
“This is against the law and the Court can grant a divorce to alleviate the plight of the affected partner” he advised.
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Another Lawyer on the show, Mr. Oladele Kwaku Aribike, also advised against branding traditional marriage as “engagement”, saying such notions devalue such [traditional] marriages and make them look as mere engagements.
Aribike explained that traditional marriage when registered at the court can only be dissolved at the court.
However, if after the ceremony, there was no registration at the court, the annulment of such marriages can be done at home per traditional guidelines.
He further explained that before the three types of marriages of ordinance – Church Wedding, Court Wedding, Islamic Marriage is granted a couple, the partners involved will have to publish their intentions to marry for 21 days.
When that is done and nobody protests the marriage they are allowed to marry; otherwise, the court registration cannot take place and the process would be deemed illegal.