Joseph Ackah-Blay, a Legal practitioner in a post on social media, has detailed that the Supreme Court of Ghana has clarified that persons accused of having affairs, “side chicks” or “side guys” with married spouses, are not automatically entitled to join divorce proceedings.
According to the post shared by Joseph Ackah-Blay, the Supreme Court held that such individuals ‘side chicks” may only join the case where they raise substantial legal issues directly connected to the dispute before the court.
The Legal practitioner in his post shared on May 6, 2026 wrote, “The Supreme Court of Ghana has settled an interesting question which sometimes comes up in divorce cases. When for instance a wife sues for divorce and names “the other woman” whom she alleges to be having an affair with her husband in her petition, must that woman be joined to the case as a party? (works the other way round as well)
The court answered: not always. Sometimes yes. This is the decision in the case of Vida Yeboah v Dr Stephen Yeboah & Mercy Agyeiwaa, decided on 29th April 2026.
In April 2019, Vida Yeboah filed for divorce against her husband, Dr Stephen Yeboah, at the High Court, Agona Swedru. The fact in support of her claim that the marriage had broken down beyond reconciliation was adultery, and she named one Mercy Agyeiwaa as the woman the husband was seeing. According to the petition, the husband had even moved Mercy from Kasoa into a new flat about twenty feet from the matrimonial home in Gomoa Oguaakrom.
When Mercy got wind of the petition, she did not stay quiet. She applied to join as a party. Her position was interesting. That she was no side chick. She said she was already the husband’s customary wife from 15th July 2012, two whole years before Vida and Stephen’s 2014 ordinance wedding. She tendered photographs of the customary ceremony and named witnesses. She also said she had contributed her own money to the very properties Vida was asking the court to share equally.
The High Court allowed her to join. The Court of Appeal threw her out, saying her presence would only “murky the waters”. The Supreme Court has now restored her place and sent the matter back to the High Court for trial.
The Supreme Court, however, cautioned that this judgment is no general invitation for every named “party” to walk into a divorce.
In its own words, persons “commonly referred to in Ghana as ‘side chicks’ or ‘side guys'” generally have no place as parties in a divorce. If the only thing such a person can offer is to admit having had something with someone else’s spouse, the most they can ever be is a witness. It noted that Section 12 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1971 uses “may”, not “shall”, and that joinder is at the discretion of the court, not automatic.
What set Mercy apart is that she did not show up with just a denial. She brought two legal issues: a competing customary marriage, which, if proved, would invalidate the very marriage Vida wanted dissolved; and a property claim in the assets Vida was asking the court to share equally.
This, the court reasoned, made her presence necessary for the trial court to settle the matters in dispute”.
Some Ghanaians reacting to the development stated, “You cannot practice customary marriage and at the same time, ordinance, and you cannot also mix the two systems. So the marriage by ordinance should be declared void since the customary preceded it. It is better she allows the man to marry her as a second wife now or forget it”.
“So basically, the ordinance marriage is going to be declared void?
If yes, what does the man suffer for committing bigamy, for wasting a woman’s time when proven the law doesn’t allow another marriage if he had already married under customary law?”, a netizen added.
“Wow interesting
So if Mercy’s marriage is verified doss it mean Vida’s marriage is null and the case thrown out?
In that case, can Vida sue for deception or waste of time or something like that? For compensation?”, a netizen added.
A netizen quizzed, “Good read..
Now, let me ask this question. Is there any law/laws in Ghana regarding marriage that states that a man can marry only one woman?”.
See the post below:
The Supreme Court of Ghana has settled an interesting question which sometimes comes up in divorce cases. When for instance a wife sues for divorce and names “the other woman" whom she alleges to be having an affair with her husband in her petition, must that woman be joined to…
— Joseph Ackah-Blay (@BlayAckah) May 6, 2026
