ADDO
V.
ADDO

SARKODEE J.: The petitioner prays for dissolution of his marriage with the respondent on the ground that their marriage has broken down beyond reconciliation; that they have not lived as man and wife for a continuous period of over two years and that the respondent is unreasonably withholding her consent to the grant of a decree. The petitioner says further that all attempts made at reconciliation have failed.

The parties were married in 1958 and lived and cohabited in Accra. There is no issue of the marriage but the respondent had children of her own before she was married to the petitioner. The petitioner, during the subsistence of the marriage, had four children by other women. He confesses to his adultery but says that he was forced to behave in that manner by the respondent’s conduct and persistent nagging.

On 15 March 1959, the wife petitioned for divorce on the grounds of the husband’s adultery and cruelty. She, however, discontinued the suit after the husband had filed an answer…