The Accra Circuit Court has ordered a businessman in his 60s to pay GH¢200,000 in compensation to his former partner for breaching a promise to marry her after an 11-year relationship.
The ruling, delivered by Justice Sedinam Kwadam arose from a dispute that originally began as an ejectment suit. The businessman had sought to evict the woman from a two-bedroom apartment in a six-unit property he owns in East Legon.
The couple’s relationship spanned from 2013 to 2024. Court evidence revealed that the property was still under construction when their romance began. The woman took an active role in supervising and managing the building project for approximately four years while the businessman, who was frequently abroad, remitted funds for the construction. In 2017, he asked her to move into one of the two-bedroom units, and he later joined her after returning to Ghana.
In her defence and countersuit, the woman maintained that the businessman had promised to marry her, a commitment that led her to leave her residence in Dansoman and dedicate herself fully to the relationship. Among the evidence she presented was the fact that the businessman was publicly listed as an in-law during her father’s funeral, where he made financial contributions and even wrote a tribute. He also gave her a ring, which the court later determined was intended to signal commitment and ward off other suitors. Additionally, he appointed her to oversee the construction of his six-unit property in the role of foreman for about four years.
She requested several reliefs from the court, including US$40,000 in damages for the breach of promise to marry, the right to remain in the two-bedroom apartment, and continued use of a Toyota RAV4 vehicle she claimed had been purchased for her.
Justice Kwadam found compelling evidence that a promise to marry had indeed been made. The court concluded that the ring was not a mere casual gift but carried clear intent to commit. The businessman’s open conduct of associating himself with her family as an in-law without any objection, making contributions at her father’s funeral, and allowing her to manage the construction project according to the court, reinforced the existence of that promise. His unilateral decision to end the relationship in 2024 was therefore ruled a breach.
The judge observed that both parties are over 60 years old and noted that the woman’s prospects of finding another partner had been significantly reduced after devoting 11 years to the relationship, including nine years of cohabitation.
Although the businessman remains the legal title holder of the property, the court applied principles of equity and imposed a constructive trust over the two-bedroom unit. It recognised that the woman holds a beneficial interest in the apartment, dismissed the ejectment suit, and ruled that she is entitled to continue living there.
For the breach of promise to marry, the court awarded GH¢50,000 in general damages and an additional GH¢150,000 in compensation, bringing the total to GH¢200,000.
The court further permitted the woman to retain use of the Toyota RAV4, as the businessman had not specifically claimed its return in his pleadings. She was also awarded GH¢20,000 in costs.
The full reasoning of the judgment is expected to be made available on February 24.