Intermittent power outages disrupted proceedings at the Kumasi High Court in the case in which Akosua Serwaa Fosuh is seeking recognition as the legal wife of the late highlife musician Charles Kwadwo Fosuh, popularly known as Daddy Lumba.
The hearing was interrupted twice while counsel for Serwaa Fosuh cross-examined the head of the Ekuona family at Parkoso, who is also the first defendant in the matter.
Serwaa Fosuh is asking the court to declare her the only surviving legal wife of the late musician and therefore entitled to perform his widowhood rites. She is also seeking an order restraining Priscila Ofori, also known as Odo Broni—who has six children with Daddy Lumba—from presenting herself as the late musician’s wife.
Friday’s hearing, however, was marred by intermittent power outages, with proceedings halted twice within 20 minutes.
The first outage occurred at 2:49 p.m., just as Serwaa Fosuh’s counsel, William Kusi, cross-examined Abusuapanin Kofi Owusu, head of Daddy Lumba’s extended family at Parkoso.
The development prompted the trial judge, Justice Dorinda Smith-Arthur, to exclaim, “My goodness! Did you save it?” Her concern stemmed from the fact that court records were at risk, as computers used by court recorders had gone off mid-typing.
With no sign of power being restored after more than 15 minutes, the judge adjourned the hearing.
Abusuapanin Kofi Owusu’s testimony was therefore suspended and the case adjourned to Monday, November 24.
Three minutes after proceedings ended and the judge had retired to her chambers, power was restored at 3:08 p.m.
But just as Justice Smith-Arthur returned to the courtroom to resume proceedings, the lights went out again at 3:10 p.m., causing frustration among judicial staff, journalists, lawyers, the plaintiff, and relatives of the late musician.
Power was restored at 3:12 p.m., allowing the hearing to continue.
When proceedings resumed, Abusuapanin Kofi Owusu, testifying under oath, told the court he helped organise the funeral of Amma Saah, the musician’s mother, and saw Daddy Lumba at the event.
He said he advised the musician to attend the funeral later in the afternoon—around 5 p.m.—because his early presence could disrupt the event.
When asked by counsel for the plaintiff to state the year in which Amma Saah died, he said he did not recall. Counsel suggested 2011, but he maintained he could not remember the date.
On further questioning, he said he saw Akosua Serwaa Fosuh at her mother-in-law’s funeral and that this was the last time he saw her until the musician’s death.
Asked whether the late musician owned property in Germany, he said he had never been to Germany but believed so because of a document—a letter allegedly written by Serwaa Fosuh’s lawyers to the musician when he was alive.
He said the document, tendered in court as Exhibit DL1, was the basis for his belief.
The contents of the letter—purportedly written at Serwaa Fosuh’s instruction—were read in English and later translated into Twi for the witness, who opted to testify in Twi.
However, the authenticity of the letter is being challenged by Serwaa Fosuh, who insists she never authorised any such correspondence.
The letter allegedly informed Daddy Lumba of her intention to divorce him and gave him a 10-day ultimatum to respond to her demand for a share of properties she claimed they jointly acquired in Germany and Ghana. It listed properties at Tantra Hills, Dome, and East Legon, as well as plots at Adoato in Kumasi, acquired during their 34-year marriage.
It also alleged that the musician fathered 17 children out of wedlock and accused him of domestic abuse that allegedly left her with an almost deformed lip.
When asked how he obtained a copy of the letter—dated February 4, 2018—since it was addressed only to Daddy Lumba and Akosua Serwaa Fosuh, Abusuapanin Kofi Owusu said he received it from some members of his family.
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Source: myjoyonline.com
