Odartey’s marital saga: Is it the case of ‘fear women’?

Many Ghanaians are still expressing ‘hot’ anger over the contents of Gloria Appiah’s writs attempting to claim substantial part of her former husband’s cash and properties.

‘Unfortunately’ , some Ghanaians including some women, also describe the conduct of Gloria Appiah,  per her writs,  in  unprintable phrases while others simply say, she exhibits traces of ‘stupidity’ and  ‘shamelessness’.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines ‘shamelessness’ as, insensible to disgrace and having no shame.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary calls a shameless person, audacious, bold, brash, brazen, unprincipled, outrageous and immodest.

Wikipedia also defines ‘stupidity’ as,  a  behaviour that shows a lack of  good sense or judgement. Synonyms for stupidity include, absurdity, silliness, idiocy, foolishness and asininity.

Readers, who is Gloria Appiah? She is the former wife of Ghana’s football icon, Nii Odartey Lamptey.

Reportedly, the Supreme Court on 2nd March, 2022, upheld an earlier  Appeal Court decision ordering Gloria Appiah to vacate Odartey Lamptey’s seven-bedroom house located at East Legon in Accra.

Odartey says:” I have been in a rented accommodation in Accra for so many years now since the first court ruling, while my ex-wife is still living in my seven-bedroom house , in addition to the four-bedroom house she has been given by the court.”

Odartey adds:”Sometimes , I shed tears in pain when I’m alone in my room.”

Records indicate that in September 2013, Gloria Appiah filed a writ at an Accra High Court asking the court to dissolve the marriage between her and Odartey Lamptey.

In the writ, Gloria Appiah stated that her marriage with Odartey had irreparably broken down due to the violent behaviour of her husband.

She accused Odartey of subjecting her and her children to grave emotional and psychological abuse, besides having extra-marital affairs.

Gloria Appiah told the court that she could no longer live with her husband because of his constant false accusations of adultery against her.

Consequently, she asked the court to order Odartey to pay her a lump sum of GH¢ 500,000.

She again urged the court to equitably divide or distribute a number of landed properties and cash in various bank accounts of Odartey.

In response to Gloria Appiah’s writ, Odartey accepted the fact that the marriage had broken down beyond reconciliation.

He, however, laid the blame on the infidelity of Gloria Appiah and supported his claim with a DNA report on paternity test , which confirmed that he was not the father of all the three children of the 25-year-old marriage.

In its ruling on 14th June, 2017, the High Court established the fact that the marriage had, indeed, broken down beyond reconciliation.

The court established that the three children of the marriage were not the biological children of Odartey.

The court then ordered Odartey to pay GH¢ 200,000 to Gloria Appiah as financial settlement, besides giving her a- four-bedroom house at Dome in Accra and two vehicles.

For Odartey himself, the court gave him back his seven-bedroom house.

According to court records, Gloria Appiah disagreed to the decision of the High Court and moved upstairs to the Court of Appeal.

She urged the Court of Appeal to rule that she did not engage in adultery, regarding the conception of the three children of the marriage, insisting that Odartey was very much aware that “the children were not his biological child

 urged the Appeal Court to re-examine the distribution of the properties as per the High Court ruling.

The Court of Appeal stated that the alleged adultery of Gloria Appiah was not a factor in determining the equities of the case.

Nonetheless, the Court of Appeal said, due regard must be given to the fact that Odartey was not the biological father of the three children and had expended huge sums of money on them over the 21 years of marriage; providing food, shelter and education, besides being with him as he worked and travelled to Holland, Belgium, Italy and the United Kingdom, attending private schools.

On whether Gloria Appiah committed adultery, the Court of Appeal stated that “the Petitioner (Gloria Appiah) during cross examination insists that the children were conceived by a process other than sexual intercourse” with Odartey Lamptey.

However, she flatly refused to answer any further questions on how she conceived her children and told the court that she did not want to talk about the paternity of the children, claiming the issue was a very delicate one.

So, in effect, the fact that Gloria Appiah’s three children were conceived through adultery was not contradicted by her per any court record on evidence.

Gloria Appiah disregarded the ruling of the High Court and the Court of Appeal and refused to vacate Odartey’s seven-bedroom house after many years of the dissolution of the marriage by the court.

Public reaction on social media to the latest court ruling still in favour of Odartey Lamptey, has been spontaneous and acerbic.

Readers, let’s read a few of them: (1) “The fear of women is the beginning of knowledge; God is not a woman”. (2) “When Odartey’s wife meets Jezebel, what notes will they compare?” (3) “It’s not easy to win a fight with a woman, not any woman, but a Delilah kind of a woman.”(4) “With Odartey’s painful experience, ‘fear women’ must be a wake-up call for some Ghanaian men.”

Indeed, dear readers, with Odartey’s  painful experience ; can it be said that unknowingly,  many married men in Ghana are living with and looking after ‘sons and daughters’  who are sincerely not their biological children?

Readers, kindly examine the aforementioned ‘simple’ question and attempt to answer it.

My dear readers; I wish you happy, happy, happy EASTER celebration.

Contact email/ WhatsApp of the author:

asmahfrankg@gmail.com (0505556179)

By G. Frank Asmah