A partner at Morrison, Twumasi & Partners, Reindorf Twumasi Ankrah, has applauded the judge who ruled on the Daddy Lumba marriage case, describing her work as thorough, clear, and highly commendable.

Speaking on JoyNews' The Law on December 7, Mr Ankrah said, “The judge actually deserves a lot of commendation for the yeoman’s job she did.”

He explained that the judge went beyond the immediate issues to address public confusion about Ghana’s marriage systems.

According to him, “If you take your time to look at pages 31 to 33 of the decision, you will notice that the judge took notice of the commentary that has surrounded the case and figured out that there may be a lot of people who do not understand the types of marriages we have in Ghana.”

Mr Ankrah said the judge deliberately broadened her ruling to educate the public due to the strong interest in the matter.

“So, she decided, and you notice in the judgement, she said it herself that because of the public interest in the matter, she would veer off the issues and take some time to educate the public on the types of marriages,” he said.

He added that before addressing the substantive issues, the judge carefully laid a foundation for readers to understand the legal principles that shaped her conclusions.

He explained, “She took her time to look at customary marriage, marriage under ordinance, and Islamic or Mohammedan marriage, gave the incidence of each of these marriages, and then proceeded to answer the questions that had been put before her as a judge to determine.”

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Mr Ankrah said this demonstrated foresight and thoroughness.

“And you also notice from the reading of the judgement that the judge actually anticipated every issue that may come up in the commentaries and addressed it as well,” he stated.

He added that even after determining that a valid customary marriage existed between Daddy Lumba and Odo Broni, the judge still examined alternative possibilities.

“Even after determining that there was a customary marriage between Lumba and Odo Broni, she even went further assuming they were not even married and gave another alternative,” he explained.

Mr Ankrah said the ruling reflects a judge who understands both the law and the issues at stake.

According to him, “This is someone who really took her time to understand the issues, to understand the law, and to apply it well, and came to a conclusion which is more or less unimpeachable. So on that note, I think she did a great job, and she deserves commendation for what she has done.”